Twilight Storm
by Kiba Wolf
Summary: We've resurrected everything now, haven't we? We've resurrected all of those possibilities, all those fears, and maybe most of all we've brought back our chance to love — our chance to find our own peace. Spoilers for Twilight Princess, Link/Midna.
1. Prologue: The Light and Shadow

**_Twilight Storm_**

_Prologue: The Light and Shadow_

* * *

_"Shadow and light are two sides of the same coin… One cannot exist without the other. I know now the reason the goddesses left the Mirror of Twilight in this world… They left it because it was their design we should meet. Yes… That is what I believe." _

_ ~Zelda, Princess of Hyrule_

* * *

This stone chamber was small compared to the other buildings in the palace, but for the intents and purposes of today it would do. A tall, slim, cloaked figure walked into the center of the room and stared intently at a small pile of ashes that lay there, hardly distinguishable from the smooth, gray stone floor. The figure looked around the room, as if to make sure no one else was around to stand witness to her actions. The figure bent over and lightly touched the pile of ashes, shuddering as her finger brushed the dusty ash.

Then suddenly, as if the shudder had beckoned it forth, the room lit up with a brilliant light not frequently seen in this place. The cloaked figure took an involuntary step backwards and shielded her eyes. The light quickly dimmed and all that was left was a soft, blue glow radiating throughout the small space. Twisting, twirling designs on the walls were lit with blue light, covering the room from bottom to top. The figure traced the patterns on the wall behind her with her hand before tracing the rest of the patterns with her eyes.

After a moment the blue light detached from the walls and drifted to the small pile of ashes. The cloaked figure watched carefully as the pile of ashes began to glow. At first it was the same blue-colored light that the walls had held, then it became a soft yellow much like the sun's light. From the yellow it only intensified, changing from a color you could look at and smile with to a white so blinding you began to feel your skin tingle and burn. The tall figure had to once again protect its eyes, squeezing them shut and not opening them again until a loud gasp was heard followed by heavy panting.

The cloaked figure stared down at the source of the sound. There, where before there had been a pile of ashes, now kneeled a new body. The man's head rested on the stone floor with his balled-up fists grinding into either side of his skull. He was still breathing heavily. A few minutes passed as the man waited for his breath to catch up with him.

"Where?" he shrieked, his head shooting up to examine his surroundings while his fingers clawed at the ground. His eyes darted around the small room and came to rest on the cloaked figure that had been standing there, waiting patiently to be noticed. "You," he accused. The cloaked figure smiled a little before responding.

"Welcome back, old friend," she replied. The man in the middle of the room sat back on his haunches and stared at the figure for some time before responding.

"Where?" he asked again, but this time his voice was only a whisper.

"The palace."

"Why?"

"Many reasons." The cloak figure paused only briefly before continuing to detail this explanation. "Mostly… you helped me, believe it or not, I owe you the same kind of help."

"Help you? Do you have some kind of memory loss _friend_?" he spat the last word at the other person bitterly. His eyes narrowed and he stood up slowly, unsteadily. He stumbled back several paces and leaned against the wall for support, never once removing his gaze from the figure opposite him.

"Not at all. You gave me a chance to redeem myself and my people in the eyes of the goddesses, so I decided that you deserved a second chance as well." The figure scowled at the man across from her. "Much has happened since you… left… but you will be caught up to speed soon enough. Until then you will remain here, a prisoner."

The man stared back across the room with untrusting eyes. "You would not resurrect me simply to help me redeem myself," he accused. "What else do you want from me?" The cloaked figure frowned a little more, but rather than answer she turned to her right to exit the room.

"I see how it is," the man said quickly, catching the attention of the cloaked one with his tone. "You don't want to stay here any longer than you need to. I would bet there are plenty of fun memories popping up, and you just want to talk all about them with me. Yes I understand. Even after all that has happened you're still afraid of me." The man grinned triumphantly, thinking he had at last gained an edge.

The cloaked figure turned on her heel and stared at the man across the room with narrow eyes. "I have no fear of _you_," she responded vehemently.

"Well if that's not it, then you must be eager to return to your beloved wolf," the man retorted. The cloaked figure gasped and turned away before responding. "You really are a fool. That one is not here with me." This answer puzzled the man, who frowned in response.

"Odd, here I was thinking that he would've followed you all the way back home like the lost puppy he is," the man said with a smirk.

The cloak figure grinded her teeth together a moment before responding through tight lips, "I shattered the mirror before he had the chance." With that she left, slamming the door shut behind her. The man who remained in the room heard murmuring, probably his unwanted captor talking to his even less wanted guards.

His eyes were drawn to spots on the floor, smaller than buttons and a slightly darker gray than the rest of the floor. He walked slowly towards the odd dots and with one finger he reached out and touched the largest one. He pulled his finger back and examined it in surprise. It was wet.

He lifted his gaze to the door where he had last seen the cloaked figure and pondered this. The mirror was shattered, which meant there would be no way back to the other world. It was well assured that he wouldn't be able to cause any harm that much was clear. He studied the room again, double-checking for any sign of escape. After his tenth time circling the room it was painfully obvious there would be no escape, so instead he sat down and began to plot for once he was released.

He realized a few things as he sat there in the cold, dark cell thinking. The Light World and the Twilight Realm were forever separated. The Twilight Princess had returned to her throne. Perhaps the most important thing he realized, though, was this: the Twilight Princess may have broken the connection between Light and Shadow physically, but she had forgotten to sever the emotional ties as well.

Zant had been staring at the ground during this time and would've raised his eyes to the ceiling now, normally. He felt that looking to the sky was the worst mistake he had ever made though, so instead he continued to stare at the ground and giggle to himself. His laughter grew louder and louder until the guard decided it was time to sedate him. It wasn't soon enough though, for the laugh echoed down the mostly empty corridor until it reached the cloaked figure's ears.

With a bowed head Midna silently allowed several more tears to escape before returning to her chambers.


	2. Our Anniversary

_Chapter One: Our Anniversary_

In the small province of Ordon, land guarded by the Light Spirit Ordona, a small village slept, though not all slept well.

Black clouds swirled around in the red-orange sky of twilight. All seemed well and peaceful, simply floating here in the time between day and night. A young boy thought it strange to be here and looked around in alarm at first. Slowly he understood where he was and he began to search for something or someone perhaps. He looked left and right then straight ahead when he heard a small giggle. His eyes met with those of a beautiful young woman with irises like crimson.

A smile spread across his face as he gazed into the eyes of the Twilight Princess. She smiled back at him and held out her hand. He took it and together they began to drift across the Twilight Realm. The boy enjoyed watching the people below who were as small as ants from where he lingered. The Twilight Princess looked back to see why he had stopped and looked down at her subjects as well.

The boy peeked at the princess from the corner of his eye hoping she wouldn't notice his gawking. She glanced up at him and smirked showing she knew that he had been staring. When their eyes met an incredible urge overtook the boy, like a maddening impulse that would not cease until its purpose was fulfilled. He reached his hand out slowly, breath catching in his throat as his hand made contact with her soft pale-blue cheek. He leaned closer to her, so close that their breath mingled. So close that it would be the easiest thing in the world to just close the short distance between their lips. So close….

Suddenly the boy was falling through the fiery red sky, the black clouds doing nothing to slow his decline. The Twilight Princess remained where she was and smiled at him as he plummeted towards the earth. He tried to remember how to fly. He tried to remember how to get back to her. He couldn't remember anything.

Darkness engulfed him and he struggled uselessly against it. He gazed around him in wonder. This place was dark and cold not like the sky at all. The boy's gaze focused on a door that hadn't been there a moment ago on the wall opposite where he stood. He walked towards it, his footsteps echoing through the large, empty room. The door slid open as he approached it and he studied the new room. The throne room it would seem. The tall seat of power – indeed the throne itself – was not empty. There sat a tall, slim figure with beautiful red hair.

The boy's face lit up like a child who had just received a high praise from their parents. He ran towards the figure not thinking about proper behavior being that he was in the presence of a princess. He reached for her, just steps away when suddenly she vanished. Sitting in her place was the Usurper King Zant. The boy jumped back, automatically reaching for his sword only to find it was not where it should be. He looked around frantically, like a beast trapped in a cage. Zant threw his arm out towards the boy. He was flung back by Zant's dark magic hitting the wall on the far end of the room.

The false king walked towards the boy emitting no emotion from under the great helm that covered his head. The boy jumped up and prepared to defend himself, but was pulled up short when he saw another figure walking behind Zant, in his shadow. The boy tried to scream, to yell for the one behind Zant to flee, but no sound came from his open mouth.

Zant removed his headgear and stared at the now confused boy. Suddenly he grinned at the panicked youth and reached behind him. The boy tried to yell again and sound came out this time, but not the kind of sound he wanted to hear. A growl echoed off the walls of the chamber and the boy yelped in surprise. He looked down at his hands only to find paws in their place.

He howled in rage as he watched Zant turn towards the Twilight Princess who remained in the shadows behind him. The boy-turned-beast attempted to launch himself at Zant and tear his throat out only to find he could not move. He struggled and pulled against the invisible force holding him down. He could only watch mortified as Zant faced the princess and she stepped out of the shadows.

Both the false king and proper princess gazed at the wolf as if to make sure he was watching. The princess smiled at him, the king sneered. Zant turned to face the princess and quickly wrapped his arms around her and forced his mouth on hers. The large wolf could only watch in horror as the princess wrapped her legs around Zant and kissed him back. After an impossible time she broke away from the usurper and walked slowly towards the wolf as Zant faded away. She bowed down low enough to grab the wolf's ear and whisper into it.

"Happy anniversary."

Link shot straight up in bed and screamed.

Panting he looked around his room with something on the verge of madness in his eyes. He took a deep breath in an attempt to calm his racing pulse. _Only a dream_, he told himself again and again, repeating it like a mantra. _Only a dream._ He realized he was drenched in sweat, his sheets soaked. _Only a really bad dream_, he amended mentally.

He rose slowly from bed, shaken by the nightmare. Climbing stiffly he reached the top floor of his home and gazed out the window. Link observed the way the black clouds gathered together in the night sky and how they were right on par with his own feelings this night. He couldn't help but wonder back to the prophetic dream. What if it had been a sign from the goddesses that Midna was in trouble? He stared mournfully at the sky looking for an answer, but found only reinforcement for his current mood. As rain fell from the dark clouds everything below started to look like a dream. The lightening lit up the sky's massive black storm clouds and thunder shook the earth causing his house to tremble. His mind flickered back to his beast form for a moment. Frequently he felt like thunder when he was in that form. His roar had caused his foes to be less eager when confronting him just as you would be wise to take shelter during a storm such as this. Link smiled a little at the thought of his wolf-self. It wasn't long until the thoughts turned down less pleasant avenues though and he quickly broke away from them.

Aside from being mood tempering, the mid-summer storm seemed to be an omen of sorts for Link. He was sure – mostly due to the dream – that it was well pass the time that marked one day from the next. Yes, he was sure that today was the exact day that it had all ended so abruptly.

Twilight covered this land once and Link had fought against it. He destroyed the twilight and its monsters, but not without the goddesses' assistance. He glanced down at his so-called birthmark in the shape of the Triforce. Aside from that the Light Spirits had helped as well as one of the Twilis. Defeating Zant and Ganon and reclaiming both the Light World and the Twilight Realm had been a group effort indeed. It had just so happened that Link was the one handed the sword (and fangs) to actually do the grunt work of it all. He still wasn't sure if that was a blessing or curse.

Most people had considered the end of the era of twilight the time when Ganondorf fell and his Triforce fled him. Frankly, after Ganondorf had been removed from the throne room and the princess returned not many of the Castle Town peasants or, any people for that matter, cared anymore. Few people thought otherwise. This day was the day that it had truly ended whether or not the good people of Hyrule recognized this or not. Even if the details had been greatly elaborated upon Link highly doubted that the people of this world would change their minds about the day of twilight's end. For them it was a matter of evil being banished, which in this case meant all of those in relation with the Twili. Including the Twilight Princess, Midna. So it was that not many people would observe this day, however Link had long ago resolved to return to Arbiter's Grounds in the Gerudo Desert on this solemn day. It seemed only right.

Link broke from his revere to study the sky further. Among the turmoil of the clouds there was no sign that a new light would be entering the sky anytime soon. He turned away from the window with a sigh. The young swordsman had packed days ago in anticipation, but that left him with a problem now. He wasn't hungry nor was he tired (even if he was tired he would've done all in his power to remain awake) and his packing was done leaving him with nothing to do. He knew if he remained in his home he would only begin to think his days at Midna's side, which he wished to save and savor later today.

Link had long ago come to terms with the Twilight Princess's departure, for the most part at least. Of course his heart still ached, but he had moved passed the worst of the pain. The pain. The pain as Midna walked up the stairs, as she turned, as she shed a tear, as the Mirror of Twilight reflected his breaking heart. He was over it though. Past the heartbreak even if he was still in the middle of the heartache. Link grinned and shook his head sadly, look at him sounding like a man who had lost his lover!

Emotions were funny in that way. Link had thought himself friends with the Twilight Princess, of course, but it seemed to cut him so much deeper than losing a friend as he watched Midna disappear and return to her beloved twilight. Link accounted it to the fact that she had been at his side for so long and knowing she would never return made that harder than if she had left the mirror intact. Very few people realized it but losing your shadow would really make you feel lost, more so than you might think.

Link climbed back down the ladder and walked towards his bed. He lifted the pillow and took out a small shard of glass. The shimmering, reflective glass was no longer than the length of Link's small finger and just about as wide. He had found it close to the mirror's holding stand and decided to keep it as a memento. It was the largest piece of the mirror – the rest was mostly dust that even now moved with the sand in a soft breeze.

He stood up and walked across the room to get his old tunic out of storage, the Hero's Tunic. He tied the belt around his waste and slipped the shard into a pouch on it. Morning was still nowhere near, so he might as well get a head start to the desert. He walked outside and closed the door securely behind him. Theft in a village this size and this out of the way was highly unlikely, mischievous creatures trying to ransack his house was what he was worried about.

Epona lay sleeping on the soft grass at the side of his house. She snorted indignantly when Link began to put her saddle on her back. "Sorry, girl," he murmured to the outraged horse. "Look at it this way, you'll have more time to rest later." Epona rolled her eyes at this, but being the loyal steed she is stood up and allowed Link to mount her. The two rode out of Ordon province swiftly and as silently as possible.

As the wind blew through Link's soft blond hair he found his mind wandering back to an earlier thought. The people of Hyrule had thought the end of the era of twilight after Ganondorf had fallen and their princess was returned.

The day she left was the end of the era of twilight in Link's mind.

_Midna_, he prayed to no one in particular, _I wish…._

Link closed his eyes shut for just a moment and dismissed the thought. Midna couldn't find the words when she had to either, and he couldn't help but wonder if that was for better or for worse.

Today was the end of an era, the start of an anniversary.

Our anniversary.

* * *

The Princess of Twilight! The Queen of the Darkness! _What depressing, gothic titles_ she thought with a roll of her eyes.

How did it come to this?

Midna had thought everything would be perfect once she returned to her own world, removed from the harsh lights of the other realm.

It was far from that.

Even now, almost an entire year after she had shattered the mirror, she regretted it. So deeply did she regret what she had done that she was driven to near insanity. As a princess, she knew how to keep a poker face though. She allowed that small part of herself to linger in regret and turmoil in her private hours, but out there—in her realm she was a fearless leader and a courageous hero.

She would've rather died than to be called any kind of hero.

She had fled her people because she feared for her life, not that there was much more to lose with that horrid curse Zant had cast on her. Only later after finding Princess Zelda did she begin to formulate a plan to reclaim her throne.

Of course that's still no reason to be called a hero. Had she not found Link when she did then the Twili might still be suffering. She cringed a little as her memory of the day she had found Link began to play in her head. His eyes were what she recalled most strongly. They were so fearless, wild, and had such a depth you would feel like you could drown in them.

Midna sighed with pleasure.

"Your Majesty?" A guard questioned her.

"What?" She snapped, upset at being pulled away from her daydream.

"Uhm, well, nothing you just looked to have been in a daze," he muttered sheepishly. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay…." He gulped nervously and lost steam as he stared into her piercing eyes.

"Unless I ask you to," the princess said with an icy tone, "never talk to me."

The guard bowed before her, obviously smart enough to try and stammer out an apology.

Midna had been informed already that today was the day she had shattered the mirror a year ago the exact day. It was also the only day she lost her nerve to say something. As a ruler she believed it to be natural to always be allowed to speak one's mind and to always express one's emotions. That was before she had heard whispers of gossip about being one of the most straightforward queens in history.

_Not a queen yet_, she dully corrected herself.

She could've been a queen by now and with a very handsome king to boot. Well, that was the only way she could become queen—if she married. She would've gagged at the thought of such a thing before…. If she were being honest she would have to admit that before Link she really didn't think a decent man existed.

_Which brings us back to square one_, she thought bitterly.

She wasn't sure what she was trying to choke out when she had left, shattering the mirror, but she knew intuitively that if she had just _said_ it then her life would be very different from the way it is now.

It was silly all the same. Link was her best friend, her wolf, but he had plenty of options for him back in Hyrule—in the Light World. There simply would be no way for either of them to leave their own worlds just for the sake of…. The Twilight Princess let out an exasperated sigh, she still couldn't manage to wrap her head around holding anyone as more than _just friends_.

No matter, either way today was important because she had lost a friend and it had been a while since she really recognized that full on (not that she had forgotten about her leaving and shattering the mirror for even a minute). Today was a day to be celebrated and mourned. Recognized and respected.

A smile tugged at the corner of her lips as she thought, _our anniversary._


	3. I Miss You

_Chapter Two: I Miss You_

I sat on my ebony throne listening to my subject's bleak monotone, just waiting for him to spit out whatever it was he had been trying to say for the past hour. I sighed growing more and more impatient. I wanted to be on my way to the Mirror not here listening to… Oh, for the love of Farore I don't even know who this guy is.

"S-so as you see your majesty," he stuttered yet again trying to get my attention. "The cuccos— " I cut him off with a wave of my hand.

"Enough!" I begged him, my voice a little louder than I had intended. "I will deal with it once I return, but I must take my leave of the court now." The peasant stared back at me for a very long, uncomfortable minute before he finally nodded his head slowly. Then he turned around ever so slowly and took one step towards the door before bursting into yowling sobs and dashing for the exit.

I stared after him with a puzzled look on my face. After a few moments I could hear him shouting at the top of his lungs, "The princess doesn't l-lo-ove me-ee!" I blinked once, twice; that was certainly… different.

I didn't have time for this today; I wasn't in the mood for jokes like this. I stepped down the steps leading up to the rather uncomfortable stone chair and down the corridor to address my council. They wouldn't just let me leave anymore, not like before Zant. I felt my blood boil at the thought of the wicked Twili. If it hadn't been for Zant my father would still be alive and I wouldn't be forced to take over.

I had been preparing to take over the throne when Zant struck out and defied the family. He was such a loyal boy. I still couldn't grasp his reason for acting out. It was true that he wished fervently to be the ruler of our people, but he only wanted it for the power. We all learned the hard way just how far he was willing to go to get what he believed was rightfully his.

Sometimes I think we should've just given him what he wanted before he attempted to enslave the world.

No, I knew that wasn't right. Besides, it didn't matter anymore. Well not Zant himself, but there was still the matter of my own after-math. Surprisingly once the Twili were freed from Zant's curse they didn't remember much of anything. According to the people I had heard from they recall the announcement that I was to be the next ruler of the Twili, but shortly after that it all becomes an indistinguishable blur. The next thing they could clearly recall was waking up, some in stranger places than others.

Zant didn't do anything too drastic as far as changing the Twilight Realm goes. The palace remained as it was, as did the villages. The only place that had taken slight damage was the throne room chair where I had impaled Zant. That had already been fixed though.

I stopped in front of an unremarkable door, took a deep breath and stepped in. Even though I didn't have extra work to do, I did still have all of my usual duties and that was quite enough. The council didn't enjoy giving me time to myself partially in fear of another dictator and partially because they were a bit paranoid. They had all deluded themselves into believing that if I had two minutes to myself then the world would suddenly implode, or something like that.

Upon entering the room I was greeted with a chorus of, "Your Majesty!" and "My Queen!" I found it difficult to stop from rolling my eyes.

"Settle down," I commanded impatiently. They all silenced. I guess there were advantages to having a council full of kiss-ups.

"Now then," I started, giving them all a sweet smile before sitting down at the head of the table in the just-big-enough room. "It would please me greatly to take a short break today, so if we could all just agree for once—." I was abruptly cut off by an uproar.

"But, my Queen!" Gasped my head of foreign affairs, obviously beyond words.

"My Lady, it would be a very poor move to simply leave," my military adviser started to explain, because, obviously, there was some kind of strategic bonus to keeping the queen locked inside the throne room.

"Your Majesty," whispered my most trusted advisor, you could say my right hand friend in all things castle life. "Why do you need to leave?" he asked softly, cutting below the din rather than trying to be heard above it. I sighed in frustration. Even he wasn't beyond acting like a lost puppy every time I wanted to get away from the castle grounds.

"All right!" I yelled, immediately getting the attention of every council member. "All of you can sit here and discuss this, I'm leaving." With that I stood up and walked out the door, ignoring the protests behind me.

I was quick to walk down one of the many hallways I knew would lead outside. The palace wasn't incredibly large, but Twili magic did engulf the grounds. You could easily get lost simply by stepping through a portal, mistaking it for one of many doors. Some days it was inconvenient, but not today.

As I stepped from the dreary depths of the palace I was quick to pull my hood up. Even such a powerful ruler like myself could run into trouble on the streets – no nation was perfect. My feet made impatient tapping sounds as I walked quickly through the town square. Before long I found myself on the outskirts of town facing the Mirror.

If I were being honest I would have to admit that this was a strange place to put a mirror. The Mirror – well the frame of the Mirror now – stood on a simple ebony stone, naturally smooth, in the middle of a small patch of grass. Being that it was twilight all of the time it was hard to believe that grass grew so vitally here. The only real explanation anyone had ever had was that it is the work of the Old Gods, a simple taunt to remind us of what we had lost. For all around me now there was nothing more than a wasteland, devoid of life. I suppose you could compare it to Hyrule Fields… if you said this place was exactly like the fields had someone come along and suddenly sucked the life out of it.

Previously thoughts like these would anger me and question my ancestors' Old Gods. Who were they to banish us just because of our power? How dare they lock us here because they are just so afraid of us? Even now I questioned it, but not for the reasons I once did.

I stretched a gloved hand out to touch the smooth gold frame of the Mirror, but jumped back when I felt a shock go through my arm. Puzzled, I looked down at my hand, then back at the Mirror's holding frame. Slowly I tugged the black leather glove off my left hand. I stared at my palm for a number of minutes before giving up; obviously there was nothing wrong with my hand.

Nonetheless I reached my hand out again to stroke the Mirror's shiny frame. Just as before a tingle ran up my arm, like it was going numb suddenly. This time, with my glove no longer covering my hand, I noticed a sliver of light come from where my fingers made contact. Except it wasn't my fingers or the frame. It was the back of my hand. I looked at my palm once again and took a deep breath. Slowly I rotated my hand and slowly it came into view. I gasped aloud when I saw a mark on my hand. The mark was so familiar, and yet it couldn't possibly be….

The Triforce?

Undeniably it was the same mark as I had seen on Link's hand (or paw, rather) and on Zelda's. This mark wasn't quite the same though and it took me a moment to figure out what it was. Then it dawned on me.

The mark was upside-down. Where as Link's mark had the point of the triangle facing his knuckles the triangle point on my skin faced towards my wrist. I pondered this for only a moment before I panicked. I could not possibly have the Triforce because residing within me would surely corrupt it. Not to mention the fact that I was of the banished race of Twilis; I wasn't even one of the goddesses' loyal Hylians.

I laughed out loud.

Surely this was some kind of joke; I must be driving myself into the insanity that lurked just beyond heartbreak. I longed to return to my friends in the Light World so badly that I was in fact seeing things. I shook my head and began to laugh even harder. What a joke I had become. Just look at what I was reduced to! Mourning here like some sad peasant!

I started laughing so hard that I had to support myself on the frame of the Mirror of Twilight to keep from falling over. I ignored the crawling sensation along my arm as I leaned against the strong frame.

Suddenly there was a bright flash of light that immediately cut off my laughter. Nothing that bright existed in the Twilight Realm naturally. I looked towards the Mirror only to have my attention pulled away by the horrible burning in my hand. I tried to remove it from the heat, which I could only assume was coming from the mirror frame, but my hand was firmly glued to it.

I screamed out in pain as the heat intensified. Even though I couldn't feel my hand I could feel all of the pain from it: The burning like acid, the heat like a thousand Gerudo desert suns, the pain worse than when I shattered the Mirror, in effect separating myself from Link forever. Soon the pain was beyond words or even my shrieks of protest.

I thought the pain was finally stopping when suddenly I lurched forward, though not of my own accord. I was being dragged into the Mirror itself. I tried to pull my hand away again, but to no avail. No matter how much I tugged and stretched I could not free my hand. Now my entire arm was inside the Mirrors nonexistent interior. The blinding white light peaked and without a sound I was pulled completely from my world to find myself in a void between worlds.

There was a rush of wind and light before I found myself at a stand still in a place so devoid of sound that it actually hurt my ears. The place was bright, light filled on my left, and an orange-red tint that was unmistakably twilight on my right. I stood on the edge of both worlds, partially between them and probably partially nonexistent at the moment. I looked around me for a sign of life in this empty space.

A small chuckle caught my attention and I turned my head towards the sound. It was coming from the brighter side of the room, the side that reminded me of the Light World. I gasped when I saw Link sitting there talking to someone I could not see.

I reached for him but I could not move from the line between the worlds. I walked – I saw my feet move, but I could not move closer to his fleeting image. The world seemed to rotate with every step I took. I stopped trying to get closer and just observed him from where I stood.

It felt like I was looking at him through water, crystal clear but the nature of the water disrupted and distorted his image a bit. His voice was loud and clear, just as it would be if I were standing right next to him. My heart lurched at the thought of being so close to him again. I forced myself to turn away from him.

It surprised me to see another figure standing across from me. This person was not muddled like Link was; this new arrival's image was perfectly clear.

"Ganondorf!" I exclaimed.

He chuckled a little before responding, "Heh, Midna, Twilight Princess, excuse my poor manners, but I'm not going to beat around the bush. You have something I need, something that belongs to me. I think you know what that something is, so if you would just be a good girl and give it to me -."

"No!" I cut him off and stared him down, "Ganon whatever you came for here you're not getting, do you understand me?"

I saw the corners of his lips pull down in disappointment. "Midna," he sighed and rolled his eyes once like he was talking with some misbehaving child rather than a princess. "You cannot hope to fight me off, even with my Triforce embedded in you," he sneered down at me.

"Give it to me now," he hissed.

"I will never ," I started but was immediately cut off when Ganondorf suddenly lunged at me I tried to side step his clumsy grab, but it would seem this in-between limbo didn't go two ways. When I leaned left I started to fall—the same sensation that had greeted me upon entering this strange void. I let out a yelp and tried to stop myself, but to no avail.

Suddenly I hit solid ground. Sandy ground to be more exact. I reached up to rub my head where I had hit it upon landing but didn't get much of a chance to look around before suddenly a brilliant light appeared behind me. I spun around just in time to see Ganondorf falling out of a portal that looked to be made of electricity. I felt the air rush to escape my lungs with a whoosh as Ganon landed on top of me.

I was on the ground for maybe half of a heartbeat before I was suddenly jerked up by my wrist. Dazed from the fall into (or out of, I wasn't really sure anymore) the void I didn't notice who had grabbed my wrist or more importantly what he was doing with it until I felt a sharp pain on the back of my hand. I screamed out again as an inferno engulfed my hand. Instinctively I pulled my hand back.

Ganondorf let out a howl of frustration when I snapped my hand away from him. "Give it to me you little—!" Suddenly he spun around and rolled out of the way just in time to avoid being sliced in half from head to toe by a heavy sword.

"Hyaa!" The sword wielder exclaimed rushing towards Ganon again. I felt my breath catch in my throat as I saw Link lunge for Ganon.

By miracle or luck, Ganon had managed to avoid Link again and send him flying across the room with a powerful kick. "You win this round, Princess," he spat at me. "I'll be back," he grinned wickedly at me. "Promise." With that Ganondorf vanished in a rush of wind.

I tried to think through what had just happened but it all seemed so impossible, surely I must be dreaming? I looked around for the first time and at once recognized my surroundings. Arbiter's Grounds, in the Gerudo Desert.

"Link!" I heard a female voice exclaim and turned to see Princess Zelda rush to the fallen boy. It took me several more minutes before my thoughts were in order enough to walk towards the two. I dropped to my knees on the other side of him, opposite Zelda.

"Link?" I whispered. He groaned and sat up, rubbing his stomach. "Ow," he squeaked. I bust up laughing. He glared at me.

"Y-you sounded like a little girl!" I exclaimed in delight. It wasn't long before I was pounding the sandy ground with my fist and holding my own stomach from the laughter.

"Midna, how is it that you are here?" Zelda questioned. I hadn't really thought about it until she mentioned it. I was really here, really with Link in the Light World again.

"I'm not sure," I mumbled truthfully. "I was at the Mirror, on my side, and I touched it…. My hand started to burn then I was… inside the Mirror I think."

"Inside the Mirror?" Link asked, incredulous. I nodded. It didn't make any sense to me either.

"We can discuss this elsewhere," Zelda said, standing up and brushing her dress off. "Come, let's get back to the castle now." Link nodded his assent and I shrugged. I didn't exactly have a choice right now. Just as I was about to follow them down the steps to ground level I thought of something and gasped out loud. Link spun around immediately.

"What's wrong?" He asked. I rushed over to him and wrapped my arms around his torso.

"Link, I missed you so much," I mumbled into his shoulder. He remained still for a moment but slowly wrapped his arms around my waist.

"I missed you too."

* * *

We were quick to work our way across the desert and down to the more stable roads surrounding Hyrule Castle. Though the journey took only a short while compared to normal means of travel, compared to the way Link and I used to travel it took forever. Not to mention that due to the fact that only two horses were present I was forced to ride with Link, though I couldn't bring myself to call this objectionable.

I sighed in annoyance for what seemed to be the hundredth time. Link was struggling to keep a straight face at my attitude. Finally, probably half way through the desert, I complained out loud.

"You people need to tame wolves to ride on; they're so much more comfortable than these smelly horses." I made a face as I said this.

Though I was sure he couldn't see my face seeing as I was sitting behind him, Link burst into laughter and continued to chortle without cease until a gust of wind sent a bucket full of sand into his mouth, which immediately cut off his loud guffaws.

He was quiet for the rest of the trip.

As much as I enjoyed watching Link eat sand it was only entertaining enough to briefly remove my mind from the much larger problem we now faced. Ganondorf had returned, though the how and who were yet to be discovered. Not only that but he had returned to the world of light with me, which only served to raise further questions. For example: How did I get back to this side of the Mirror? Or more importantly: How do I get back?

My people could survive on their own, so long as my royal council stepped in and kept things running smoothly, but they needed a leader just as any group did. Inevitably there would be a problem that they wouldn't be able to solve by themselves and then what? What if they began to bicker over land and tore themselves apart? What if a civil war erupted? What if….

"Midna?" My thoughts were interrupted when Link called my name in a soft voice.

"What is it?" I snapped. I could almost picture him rolling his eyes at the tone of my voice.

"Nothing, just making sure you hadn't fallen off. You've been really quiet and we both know how rare that it," he remarked slyly. Though I could tell he was teasing me I could also tell he really was concerned. Plus it was true; I typically always had something or another to say.

"I'm fine, just worried about the Twili," I said hesitantly. I felt Link's body tense and knew I was right to try and avoid the subject. Link had nothing against the Twili, as far as I knew, with the exception of Zant, but that didn't mean he didn't hold a small grudge against them for forcing him through everything he went through on our journey together.

Being called on to save a race of people and not getting the slightest reward for it could be a bit annoying, I imagine. Well, in all honesty he was told to save Hyrule. I enslaved him and forced him to save my people as well. I guess one couldn't be done without the other, but even knowing that didn't ease any of my guilt.

Soon enough we came upon Hyrule's Castle Town and we rode quickly through the large city surrounding the magnificent stone spires of Hyrule Castle. It seemed our arrival had startled most of the attendants of the castle, which I thought was poor castle-keeping on Zelda's part. As it turned out, I found out later, they had been given the day off in honor of today, so it was Zelda's fault just not in the way I had thought.

"Y-your Majesty?" One of the many confused servants asked, watching as the princess deftly maneuvered off of her horse. Link was quick to do the same and turned to lend me his hand as I dismounted. I smiled lightly at him before turning my attention back to Zelda who was now shouting commands across the courtyard as she dashed up the stone stairs to the main room of the castle.

"The day off is still in effect. I just need the stable keepers to take care of the horses first and I need two rooms prepared, one for my guests to sleep in and one for us to meet in and I need it all done now!" Zelda shouted at various servants who scrambled to fulfill her requests.

I must admit I was impressed by the way Zelda easily had everything set up with just a few commands within the hour we had arrived. In fact it was only a few minutes before we had been escorted to a room in the eastern section of the castle, which was to be used for our discussion on the matter of Ganondorf's return. There were guards posted at the door, but Zelda quickly waved them off and we entered the room.

The room was mostly empty with the exception of a small rectangular table and three comfy-looking chairs placed around it. Even with the sparse furniture the room felt ever so slightly crowded with three people occupying it. The ceiling was low, considering we were in such a massive castle, but it was still much higher than a normal building.

Zelda sat down in a chair at one end of the table and I took a seat at the opposite end with Link sitting between us. I waited as Zelda drew a deep breath before sitting up and asking, "Now what?"


	4. Darkness Rising

_Chapter Three: Darkness Rising_

"Now what?" Zelda asked, slumping a little lower in her chair. I closed my eyes for a moment, sudden grief for my lost realm coming over me. One would think that I would be used to losing my home by now, but it was no use. I just couldn't get the feeling of homesickness to vanish. I finally looked up again when I heard Link speak.

"Well we don't know that anything is wrong yet," he spoke softly, considering the situation a bit more logically than probably either Zelda or I was at the moment. He didn't have a kingdom at risk of being lost for the second time within a year.

"You think nothing is wrong?" Zelda spoke softly, "Link, Ganondorf is alive again and in this world. You and I both know better than to believe that he is here with good intentions – honestly did you see the way he was attacking Midna or did you have your eyes closed?" Zelda's voice grew louder as she spoke, close to yelling at Link towards the end.

Not one to back down, Link spoke up with an even louder tone than Zelda managed, "My eyes closed? How dare you accuse me of sitting back and not doing anything? If you had been there by yourself when Midna came through then he would've _killed you both_!" His voice broke on the last few words and he slumped back into his seat, exhausted from his small outburst. He didn't want to fight with Zelda, but he was really stressed out at the moment.

Tired of having my name tossed around without a say I spoke up finally, "Link, Zelda's right." He sat up straight and stared me down at this. I felt a little lost as I stared into his wild blue eyes, but before I could lose myself too much I shook my head once, clearing it, and held up my hand.

"I don't mean to say you didn't help, however I think that Ganon was just being smart. He saw he was out numbered and backed down so that he could – most likely – gather strength," I explained. I thought briefly of what Ganondorf had wanted from me – the Triforce of Power. He wouldn't rest until he got it back that was for sure, but he was no fool. He couldn't have removed the Triforce from my hand with Link swinging a sword at him. He was powerful, but not that much so.

I could see Link considering this and as he watched my face I noticed how his own features softened and he relaxed once again.

"So," Zelda spoke up again, looking between Link and me a few times. "We're just going to… wait?"

"Well," Link paused pondering his next words then, nodding once to himself, said, "I could go look around, maybe go back to the desert." For some reason my heart jumped into my throat when he said this. The idea of him out in the middle of the Gerudo Desert by himself when we had no idea where Ganon was or what he was up to put me on edge.

Zelda smiled, "It would be most helpful if you did, Hero. I will have provisions prepared and your horse washed and readied. How long do you need before setting out?" I felt my mouth fall open a little as she said this. Surely she wasn't going to send the only Hero we had out alone?

"I think I need to stop by Ordon before I do anything, I have a bad feeling about this and I don't…." He seemed unable to finish, perhaps not being able to find the right words, but he didn't have to say anything for me to understand. He had left unexpectedly once before and many times he came close to death on that adventure. He didn't want to risk his neck knowing something wasn't all nice and wrapped up back at his smelly farmhouse.

I growled to myself – at least I had thought it was to myself.

"What's wrong Midna?" Link asked, concern in his deep blue eyes.

"Nothing!" I snapped back at him.

He looked a little hurt, but I ignored him and turned back to Zelda, "I need to talk to you privately." She looked at me and nodded once before glancing at Link.

He stood up and walked straight to the door, not once looking back. He opened the door slowly and for a moment I thought he was going to turn and say something. Then he shrugged his shoulders and stepped outside, closing the door behind him.

As soon as the door closed I turned to Zelda and glared at her.

"What is it, Midna?" Zelda asked with a sigh. I briefly thought of the short time she had taken bunk in my head. After she had saved me by transmuting her soul into my own being I had been able to hear the echo of her opinion on all of my private thoughts. Some of those opinions I wished, even now, she had kept to herself.

"Zelda," I spoke softly, not even bothering to hide the fear in my voice for she would already know what I was feeling – she had learned much while taking refuge in my mind, honestly she knew me better than I knew myself at times. At times it was annoying, then at others such as this it saved me time on explanations. "I don't want to see Link going out there by himself. Any information he gathers will be of no use to us if he doesn't make it _back_ alive to tell us." I looked my Light counter part straight in the eye.

Zelda sighed, "I thought that might be it. You could go with him, I suppose, but there might be some things on his mind that he needs to think through on his own." She looked back at me, trying desperately to convey this message. "Midna, you've both been through a lot, let Link have his day at Ordon then speak with him of this when he returns."

I tried to come up with an argument to fight this, but it did seem like fairly sound logic. We had been through a lot today. With my reappearance on the anniversary of the shattering of the mirror and Ganon's return, we were both under some stress. Not to mention I had my own questions to find answers to. Zelda stood and, with a bow of her head, left the room, leaving me to think in peace.

I was back in the Light Realm, a miracle in itself, was I willing to waste this miracle for the good of my people a second time?

I had left my throne when Twilight first invaded this land in order to free my home from the usurper. As the princess, some day queen, I felt compelled to do this. It was my goddess given duty. After both realms had been saved – not that I had cared what happened to the Light Realm so much as Princess Zelda was nagging in my head – I returned to the Mirror of Twilight in order to shatter it and prevent any pollution from reaching my realm ever again.

That was what I had intended at least.

I suppose the thought of finding a friend in this realm never really occurred to me. More than a friend, I found a best friend. The kind of friend who you could count on to pray for you when you're sick and the kind of friend who would always take a stand for you. I found a best friend who protected me and fought for a realm that, previous to meeting me, he didn't even know existed.

The kind of friend it was hard to keep… a purely plutonic relationship with.

As this thought passed through my mind, I stirred restlessly in my chair which had suddenly become uncomfortable. Link had changed everything. Was it possible that he had changed me as well?

Frustrated and sick of trying to sort through the jumbled mess I call my head I stood up and pushed the chair in roughly before exiting the room. In my rush to get out of the room I nearly ran headlong into the person waiting patiently for me.

"What do you think you're doing? Were you spying on me?" I demanded harshly.

The young man dressed in the blue of the Royal Hylian Army shook his head quickly and backed up a step. "I-I was told to wait for you to emerge then g-guide y-you to your chambers," he stuttered obviously frightened by my sudden emergence and outburst.

I felt bad for spooking the guy who had obviously drawn a very short straw here, but was still far too upset by my musings to attempt a cheerful act. Instead I nodded and followed him at a brisk pace through the winding corridors of Hyrule Castle. After twenty turns and 892 paces (I counted to keep myself distracted) we reached our destination. With a small bow he turned and walked in the opposite direction from where we had come.

I opened the simple red-colored wood door with elegant carvings of vines and the Triforce and walked into a rather large bedchamber. To my left as I walked in was a bed that fit the overly large proportions of the room and to my right was a massive stone hearth with a fire already burning in it. In front of the roaring fire was a square table of the same red-colored wood as the door with two simple chairs setting opposite of each other. Straight ahead of me was an open balcony with a simple brass railing. I made no sound as I ghosted over the smooth stone floor to peer over the balcony's edge.

I didn't dare to rush all the way to the edge at first but upon seeing that the railing was secure I braved another few inches out and gawked at the ground far below me. It looked like the courtyard though I had yet to be given a proper tour of the castle grounds. There was a large tree in the center of the grassy plot of land with a stone-gray bench resting on its side. To the far right – in front of the stone seating – was a large but relatively simple fountain. Flowers bloomed all around and three carefully placed hedges would block the bench from sight unless you had an eagle's eye view.

As I turned my head slowly to the left to continue my examination I was surprised to feel a warm hand on my shoulder. I spun and jumped backwards, trying to distance myself from the unexpected arrival. In my rush to get away I had jumped back too far and slipped over the railing of the balcony. I screamed as I tumbled backwards, shutting my eyes tight, but before I could fall to my death the stranger grabbed me around the waist and pulled me back to the safety of solid ground.

I prepared myself to attack, but when I opened my eyes I was met with concerned deep sky-blue eyes and all of the fight left me. I slumped against him for support, trying to catch my breath so I could yell at him. Before I could do anything though I felt his hand against my check and I looked up at him, confused.

"Link?" I asked cautiously.

He closed his eyes and let out a sigh. Without opening them he released me from his grasp and took three large steps back. I felt oddly hurt as he did this, but ignored the small feeling. I crossed my arms and waited for him to open his eyes.

"Zelda told me," he started, slowly opening his eyes, "that you might want to talk to me about possibly joining me on this… man-hunt. Is that true?"

I couldn't understand the look on his face. He looked so stern, so serious and yet his beautiful blue eyes betrayed some kind of excitement. Like he was hiding some kind of hope that he didn't want to display or feel, perhaps.

"Yes," I spoke softly but with a firm conviction. "I want to travel with you to find him. This isn't just about Zelda and her kingdom; it's about mine too. I just don't happen to have a hero I can send out to do my bidding."

He grinned wolfishly at me, "Well I'm kind of a hero for both of you."

I snorted, "Yeah, right, like I would trust my kingdom to some mangy flea bag again? You must know me better than that by now!" He rolled his eyes, but chuckled a bit.

"Well aside from that, I just came up to tell you that I'm leaving now – back to Ordon. Once I get back we'll stock up and head out." He paused and thought of something that I knew would've come up sooner or later. "Wait can't you warp?" He asked with a confused look on his face. Probably thinking about munching on sand.

I laughed once but the laughter sounded dead even to me. "No," I shook my head sadly. "It would seem that I retain any powers of my own but when I shattered the mirror I, in effect, sealed the warp spots for good. They weren't my doing, you understand. If they still worked do you honestly think I would've rode with you on that horrid beast you call a horse?" I saw his head drop and ears droop when I said this. I shouldn't have insulted his horse I suppose.

"Er, not that you don't have a nice, uhm, horse," I granted, though it sounded more like a question. He looked up at me from under his bangs and I saw his mouth twist up into a smirk. I rolled my eyes and pushed him. I was just trying to get him out the door, but not expecting my sudden 'attack' he yelped and grabbed me for support. Seeing as I was much lighter than him and not nearly as strong he should've known that was a bad idea.

We both tumbled down and hit the stone floor with a _thump_.

"Oww…." He groaned trying to roll to the side, but not having much luck seeing as I was pinning him down. I lifted my head from his chest and shook it once in an attempt to see straight once more.

Suddenly the door flew open and Princess (I suppose queen now, I'd have to ask later) Zelda stepped into the room. How the woman managed perfect timing with a situation like this I will never know. She looked around the room, then down at the floor when Link moaned and I saw the tips of her ears go red. I let my head fall back onto his chest. This was just what I didn't need. Right on cue Zelda started up.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I should've knocked," she started babbling and I swear I never would've believed her capable of being flustered, but in this moment of time I could tell she had absolutely no idea what to do.

"Please, Zelda," I said trying to stand or at least get off of Link. "Do you really think so little of my morals?" This only caused her to blush and stammer more. I finally managed to stand up and lean against the wall for support. Link was still on the ground writhing in pain and moaning. I took my eyes of his prone form and looked up at Zelda.

"I can explain," I defended when I saw her tilt her head to the side in confusion. "He snuck into my room without knocking or anything so I was trying to get him out and – " I gestured vaguely with my hands. The room was silent for maybe thirty seconds before Zelda spoke again.

"So," she said slowly, trying to clarify, "you knocked the Hero of Light unconscious?"

I gaped at her and stuttered incoherently for a moment before I finally forced some understandable language through my lips, "No! He is _not_ unconscious, just…." I trailed off and looked at him again. "Link?" I asked cautiously. No response. Curses!

Zelda looked back up at me waiting for a better excuse. "Well, Farore!" I exclaimed. "At least I didn't hit him upside the head with a Deku Stick!" More silenced followed this comment. Truth be told, it was getting a bit awkward what with the Hero of Light laying unconscious on the floor between two highly esteemed royals.

"Why don't I just call a guard and tell him to throw Link in his room?" Zelda asked after another minute. I nodded in agreement. She poked her head out of the doorway and motioned to someone. Moments later a rather large looking royal guard entered the room, walked over to Link and picked him up like a sack of potatoes. Zelda and I walked out my door to watch from a distance as the guard lumbered off to Link's room. Surprisingly his room was right next to mine, just several yards down. We watched as the guard opened the door and quite literally chucked Link into his room. I winced when I heard a loud _whack _and then a groan come from the room Link had just been thrown in.

I felt bad; the poor guy was probably going to have one bad headache when he finally woke up. Zelda turned around slowly to face me again. We both shrugged at the same time and said a quick good night before she took off down the hall and I went back into my room.

To say that my first day back in the Light Realm had been confusing was to say the least. With a groan of frustration I realized I didn't even have a change of clothes. After debating a few minutes I decided it would be best if I just sucked it up and slept in the clothes I had; my luck someone else would burst into my room without warning and I didn't want to be underdressed for the occasion. With luck maybe everyone in the castle had already heard that I knocked people unconscious and raped them when they walked into my room. That was the best do-not-disturb sign I ever had in my entire life.

I plopped down on the soft surface of the bed and quickly drifted into a dark sleep.

* * *

The next morning I woke up to a bright light and immediately thought something was wrong. In a panic, I jumped up and looked around at my surroundings frantically. This wasn't my room – I looked outside – this isn't my _realm_! I took a deep breath as the events from yesterday raced back into my mind, filling in the blanks.

Ganondorf.

More importantly… Link.

The next round of memories gave me the strange urge to laugh and cringe at the same time. The Hero of Light lying on the floor – I think he was twitching a little.

I shook my head to dispel the thoughts and stretched my stiff back. Glancing around I suddenly felt another jolt of homesickness. I felt like I should be doing something, but I didn't know what to do here in the Light Realm. Obviously I couldn't go about my regular ruling duties because that was Zelda's job here. With no other motivation I decided to go search for some more clothes, the ones I was currently wearing were beginning to stink almost as much as a reekfish.

I stepped out into the hall and came to my next problem. Which way did I go? I looked left, right, then straight ahead. I couldn't seem to remember which way I came from last night when I had followed that one kid out of the meeting room. Looking left again I recalled Link being thrown into the room just down from mine and decided to start there. Maybe he would know how to get out of here.

I stopped in front of his door and knocked on the solid wood lightly. I waited a few moments, but no answer. "Link?" I called softly, knocking again. I tilted my head to the side, confused. Where could he be? For that matter where was everyone? I hadn't seen a soul since I woke up this morning. Granted that wasn't too long ago but it still had me worried.

"Oh, Midna?" A voice called from behind me. I spun around and saw Zelda approaching me. I immediately let out a sigh of relief, if Zelda was here then at least that meant the castle wasn't under attack.

"You don't sit on your throne much do you?" I asked a bit harshly. I hadn't seen _her_ suffering on a giant chair listening to problems yet, what kind of ruler was she?

"Most everyone's still asleep right now actually. I just saw Link off, so I figured I should probably come check on you too," she replied, ignoring the tone of my last question.

"Sleeping? Why?" I asked truly perplexed. It was so bright when I woke up this morning; surely it had to be past the waking time here?

"Actually the day just broke, I assume because you're so used to the Twilight Realm the small amount of light caught you off guard," she speculated. Weird, I thought, but possible.

"Wait!" I exclaimed thinking back to what she had said earlier. "Did you say you just saw Link off? As in he's gone?" I questioned her, my voice close to panic. Her eyes widened a little at my sudden out burst, but she put a reassuring hand on my shoulder nonetheless.

"He'll be back by nightfall I believe," she said in a reassuring tone. I nodded sadly. He would be back soon enough I knew that. No reason to get all worked up. Of course why wait for him when I could easily catch up to him and join him? So tempting, but so wrong.

"Say, Zelda," I said in the most innocent voice I could manage. "How do I get out of this great castle of yours, I want to get some fresh air before the light gets too intense." I smiled sweetly at her. She frowned back at me, but with a gesture she led me to the main room of the castle and pointed out the exit. I thanked her and walked as calmly as possible towards the door and out into the brisk morning air. I felt a strange excitement stir in me upon feeling the Light Realm's air on my exposed skin. I could tell that the Light Realm would soon be experiencing cold weather, but right now it was only cool and damp out.

I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Zelda wasn't still watching me before I tried to move into the nearest shadow. A thrill went through me as I easily slipped into the castle shadow. I looked at a shadow down the path, outside of the main gates of the castle, in Castle Town. I reached fearlessly for the shadow and found myself in the new shadow with ease and more importantly speed.

I laughed once in pleasure and startled a near by guard who had been dozing. I fell silent and began slipping from shadow to shadow, racing towards Ordon faster than any lousy horse could hope to go. I had to squeeze into some pretty tight shadows in Hyrule Fields but even then I flew with a speed some people could only dream of.

* * *

I caught up to Link somewhere in Faron and rode his shadow the rest of the way. The joy I found by lounging in his shadow was inconceivable even to me. Maybe it was just nostalgia. Maybe it was because I was riding with my best friend once again. I didn't know and I didn't care enough to ponder it, I simply accepted it. When his horse clomped over the long, rickety bridge I really started to reminisce.

Right there, that was the exact spot he had first passed through a Twilight curtain and I first laid eyes on him. There, to my left was the spring where Ordona, the goat-like Light Spirit, thanked Link and told him he was stuck as a beast until he saved the other Light Spirits, and even then there was no guarantee. Ah and then came the Ordon Village itself. The place where I had him collect his first sword and shield.

The strange but friendly folks who lived here were called family by Link. He never knew his parents from what I gather, so the entire village just sort of adopted him. The kids worshiped him and the adults loved him. Had fate stayed its course Link would've likely taken over as head of the village, probably married that Ilia girl, and had a nice family. He probably would've herded many more goats.

The lone Hylian was not destined to such an easy life though. A blessing from the goddesses and a raid on his paradise flung him off the easy course he had been sailing and into rough waters not many dared tread.

I felt sorry for him, of course, but the whole worlds-colliding bit had its effect on my life as well. I was dethroned and transformed, just like Link. I guess it really was a blessing to find him, the sacred blue-eyed beast. Without him I would still be Zant's fugitive if not worse.

I was jarred from my thoughts as Link suddenly jumped off the horse and walked towards the village. I vaguely noticed that his horse started to walk in the opposite direction, but my attention was more front words looking for signs of life in the sleepy little village. The village reminded me of a group of dogs. One dog started barking and pretty soon they all were even though some couldn't figure out why everyone else was barking.

"Link!" The voice of a child sounded throughout the village and all was silent a moment before….

"Link! Link!"

"Where have you been?"

"You left again!"

"Why didn't you say good-bye?"

All of the shouting was starting to make my head hurt, Link waved his hands frantically trying to calm everyone down. So it was all I could do to keep from bursting into laughter when Link went down after being tackled by the village children – though I'm pretty sure some adults helped. I left Link to drown in the small sea of bodies and jumped shadows when I noticed one person sneaking away from the group.

We weren't completely away from the noise before I realized whose shadow I had just taken room in. I glanced at the face of Ilia, the farm girl and very likely Link's girlfriend, and immediately had a bad feeling. I considered changing shadows again, but curiosity got the best of me so I waited to see where she would go. Unsurprisingly, she went to the Ordon Spring where Epona was standing waiting for her or Link to come and fetch her.

I heard her make a small _tsk-_ing sound and she began speaking softly to the horse, "He's always riding you too hard. He must've left before dawn to get here from the desert. I'll bet he barely gave you a breather between going up there and coming back. He's always pushing himself and you too hard." This confused me a little. She was talking to his horse but she was talking _about_ him.

She continued, "I wish he would just stay home long enough for me to get just three words out. Three's all I need. Sometimes I wish you would just do me a favor and stop listening to him for just a moment or two." She sighed and continued to pet the horse gently. This only served to confused me further. Link had been here for an entire year after I had left, right? Well take away a few days to travel but other than that…

Both Ilia and I turned when we heard another person approaching, their boots crunching in the sand.

"Link," she breathed with a smile, echoing my own thoughts.

"Hey Ilia," he greeted her before turning to pet his mount. There was a long moment of silence but I could tell it wasn't awkward with Ilia like it sometimes was when we were together. This made me a little more uncomfortable than I already was. Link turned to Ilia and when their eyes met I could literally feel the intensity in the gaze. It was suffocating.

"Uh, Link," Ilia said quietly, blushing a little. "You've been away so much since we were kidnapped" – I saw Link wince at the memory, but she continued on ignoring him – "and I just wanted to know why." She looked back at Link and waited for an answer. He shifted his weight and looked down at his boots.

"Ilia," he whispered. "I think I need to tell you something before I leave again." She looked confused at first, then a little hurt, then curious. She nodded, signaling for him to continue.

He took a deep breath before starting again, "Ilia when you guys were kidnapped, you missed a lot of what happened… what I did to get you guys back safe and sound. I don't mean simply the killing I had to do or the traveling. Some things happened that you wouldn't ever believe." The girl nodded once, slowly.

"Like what?" She asked after a moment of silence. Link seemed a little surprised she would ask, but I knew he would tell her.

"Long story really short, there was this stuff called Twilight – and I don't mean the kind you see when the sun sets. This Twilight was – is – magical. Most people who walk into this kind of Twilight become spirits. I was different." He glanced at her to see how she was reacting. I could tell she was really trying to understand and accept this. My heart went out to her. She wanted to understand him so badly, but she was struggling with it.

"So that's why you knew where to find the younger kids, and why you showed up after the monsters disappeared?" She asked. I was surprised she caught on and made the leap with so little information. Link shared in my surprise.

"Yes," he said speaking a little bit more clearly. "Those monsters were really there and when they vanished – well that was me."

"But you said that everyone turned into spirits?" Ilia asked her face clouding over with confusion again. "Plus no one mentioned seeing you kill these monsters. They just vanished."

"I also said that I was different," Link went back to whispering. "Ilia when I entered the Twilight I was changed like everyone else, but unlike everyone else I became… I… I turned into a… a… beast." I could see him biting into his bottom lip and looking at his boots again. Ilia was perfectly still.

"A beast?" She finally found her voice several minutes later. "So you walked around as… an animal… and you fought these monsters, but no one could see you in the Twilight?" Link let out a breath he had been holding.

"Yes, a wolf actually," he smiled at her. "I know it's impossible to believe, but that is what happened. That's how I saved you and everyone else."

She thought about this for a while longer before she looked up at him and smiled. "That's pretty cool, can I see that or do you have to be in the Twilight?" I knew the answer to that – it was in my pocket. I had kept the embodiment of the evil curse Zant put on Link after I had returned to the Twilight Realm. To be honest I never went anywhere without it. Link could transform still but he didn't know that.

I wasn't going to give it to him just so he could show that girl. Not to mention the fact that I would compromise my hiding spot. Just let him disappoint her maybe she'd let him leave sooner.

Yet… This girl was so kind to Link. She was his best friend at the very least. They were much better friends than he and I ever would be, and for some reason that really tore at me. I couldn't understand it or accept it. Even though I felt such a strange distaste for the girl, not quite hatred but still a loathing, I couldn't help but think of how happy it would make Link to show her. If Link had taught me anything he taught me to never let a chance to help someone pass you by.

I couldn't comprehend the emotions that now felt like an onslaught. Joy for helping Link. Anger at the girl for stealing the one secret I shared with Link when they surely shared thousands of their own secrets. Then this last one that confused me the most: a protective feeling mixed with desire. Desire for what I couldn't tell though. Was my desire to be with Link or simply a desire to talk with him as freely as he talked with this girl?

Anger won out, but not anger at the girl. I was angry with myself for not being able to understand my own emotions.

I switched to Link's shadow but made sure he could feel it. He did and when he looked down at me I waved to him just enough for him to see without spooking Ilia. He quickly excused himself from Ilia telling her that she might be able to see him as a beast yet.

I jumped out of his shadow once we were out of sight. His whole face was a bright red and when he opened his mouth to question me I waved my hand to cut him off. I held up the stone and touched it to his forehead. I saw the surprised looked on his face right before he transformed, then he looked up at me with a questioning gaze.

I shrugged, "If you want, I'll come translate. With what you've already said I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to explain me." He looked down at his paws before nodding to me. With that we walked back to the Ordon Spring.

Taking a deep breath I stepped around the corner and walked slowly towards Ilia. She didn't hear me until my feet met the edge of the water. The girl spun around quickly and upon seeing me let out a gasp and jumped back. Then she just stood there. Staring at me like I was a ghost or something. She didn't look very graceful with her mouth hanging open like that, so to save her any further embarrassment I spoke first.

"Hi," I said, my voice bleak.

"Uh, h-hey there," she stuttered back. At least she stopped gaping at me like a fish out of water.

"I'm just here to translate for Link, or explain rather," I told her, pronouncing each word slowly like she might run away screaming if I moved or talked too fast.

I saw her eyes go wide when I mentioned Link's name. "W-where is he?" She demanded, obviously trying to protect her friend even though she was still dazed from seeing me. I guess I couldn't blame her. If I had never seen a Light dweller until one randomly walked up to me in my throne room, I'd be confused too.

Link walked in at this moment – he must've been hiding around the corner to see how I was received. Come to think of it I never really did get a proper introduction with this girl. Not that it matter really. I was more than likely never going to see the farm girl again after this.

Link walked around me, his tail brushing my exposed leg for a brief moment, before trotting over to Ilia. He sat down several feet away from her and looked up expectantly. Ilia just stood there staring back. Thinking about it, I don't think she's moved a muscle since I walked in other than to talk to me a little bit.

"That's Link, in case you didn't catch that," I said with the most sarcastic tone I could manage. I watched her face as this information slowly sunk in. Her eyes lit up and I heard her gasp, then she dropped to her knees and hugged Link tightly around the neck. I think I threw up a little bit in my mouth as I watched her rub her filthy face against his nice coat.

Then Link started licking her face. Something snapped inside me though I wasn't sure what. I did know this: I was going to leave him like that and go back to the castle. Let's see his precious farm girl help him get back into Hyrule Castle while he was an overgrown flea-biter.

I turned around to leave, but as soon as I started walking Link jogged over to me. When he walked in front of me and sat down I was sorely tempted to kick him. Instead I just walked around him. It didn't do me much good because then he started to tug on some of the loose fabric of my clothes. This time I didn't hesitate; I spun around and slapped him.

He dropped the clothes he had been tugging on and stopped walking, though I couldn't tell if he was actually hurt or just surprised. I didn't care enough to ask. I stomped on until I was out of the line of sight of both Ilia and Link before I dived back into the shadows. I raced away from Ordon Spring as fast as I could, but I still heard a wolf's cry as it echoed through the lonely forest.

* * *

I arrived back at the castle sometime late in the afternoon, and I was quickly greeted by Zelda who then proceeded to demand to know where I had been. I waved her off and sulked back to my room. Never would I claim that Zelda wasn't wise; she figured out that I didn't want to be disturbed pretty quickly.

I drew the curtains in my bedroom to drown out some of the harsh light. Not that I wasn't used to the sun by now so much as I didn't want to be reminded that I wasn't home right now. I didn't want to think about the fact that I couldn't do anything useful here. I didn't want to think about my time here on my last visit. Certainly not that because then I would inevitably start thinking about him, and if I started thinking about him I might realize just how much he had hurt me this afternoon.

I sat down in one of the chairs near the fire and watched the flames leap about the lone burning log. It took a while – I don't know how long – but eventually I did start to think about him. I started to think how I had slapped him and backtracked through my memories as to why I did this. I had followed him to Ordon against his wishes and then I spied on him as he talked to Ilia.

He had told her too much. The idiot wolf even went so far as to tell her about his transformation. My blood boiled at the thought of him carelessly telling her about the Twilight, but more than that I was upset with the way he told her. He made the Twilight sound like a bad thing. Never mind the fact that he didn't even mention me and what I did to help rescue the brats. Not that I did much.

Still that didn't explain why I had hit him.

Maybe it was because he had every intention of showing her what he looked like. Maybe it was because he gave up his secret to her so easily. His being a wolf was the one thing that only I truly knew about. Yes, Zelda had seen him in his transformed state, but she hadn't bonded with him while he was a mangy fleabag. I did though.

When I first laid eyes on him he was a beast, but more than that he was the sacred beast from my people's legends. That was something no one in this Light Realm could understand. Everyone thought if he was a wolf he was a monster just like they think all Twili are. Not a soul (aside from Zelda perhaps) would ever learn to look past his beast form and see the man he still was inside, underneath all of the fur and fangs. Not a person alive would learn to love him, wolf or no wolf.

I did though.

I loved him while he was a wolf first then I learned to love him as a Hylian. Whenever I think of him I always think of that blue-eyed beast before I think of anything else, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Was that why I had slapped him simply because he was being a fool and walking down the path of his own destruction by telling that girl such things? Perhaps old habits simply die hard and I was just trying to advise him again. That would make sense. I grinned and nodded to myself. I even laughed out loud once because it was so silly. Getting worked up all because Link wanted to share his secret with his best friend. After all I wasn't his mother, he could do what ever he wants without my approval.

I chose to ignore the fact that the laughter hurt, and that there was a darkness rising in me. Not the kind of darkness that armies fought to protect their land, their home. It was the darkness of an ignored love and of a brewing jealousy, such dangerous things when ignorance is present.

I stood up and walked towards the door planning on finding Zelda and apologizing for my rather strange behavior earlier, but as I reached for the door handle a loud explosion shook the entire castle and I nearly lost my balance. Catching myself on the door handle I quickly flung the door open and prepared to make a dash for the main room to find out what had happened, but a servant was already outside waiting for me.

As I followed him through the twists and turns of Hyrule Castle I asked him, "What happened?"

"We're under attack," he responded briefly. I stopped cold in my tracks with my mouth opened in horror. The servant ran several more paces before realizing I had stopped. He turned around and beckoned for me, but I felt paralyzed suddenly.

Suddenly, with another ear splitting explosion, the roof caved in above where I was standing. I managed to look up in shock as the heavy stone of the roof plummeted towards me.


	5. Hylians

_Chapter Four: Hylians_

"No!" I heard a voice cry out, but it sounded far away. All I could see was the roof toppling towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the end to come. I felt the impact, but not from the direction I had been expecting. The object hit my back – hard – and I crashed into the cold stone floor with the strangely pleasant warm and soft object pinning me down. I tried to move but was held firmly in place. A loud rumbling filled my ears and I could hardly breath.

After an infinite moment everything suddenly became silent and still. I opened my eyes hesitantly. At first all I could see was darkness but slowly my eyes adjusted. I blinked several times; to my surprise I felt space above me. Slowly I sat up and realized that the roof indeed hadn't crushed me.

The space was small with the heavy stone of the castle's former roof creating walls all around me. I glanced up. There was maybe an inch of space between my head and the stone, had I been standing the massive stone would've killed me without a doubt. I was trapped but alive, and I wasn't alone. Sitting as far away from me as possible in the cramped space sat a large dog. Well, not a dog, a wolf and one I knew quite well.

"Oh you," I said sounding rather disappointed. Honestly if I had to die with someone why'd it have to be him? "I guess you want to be changed back before you die, hu?" He looked me in the eyes, growled once and nodded. Someone was a bit angry still. Well if he was going to bite me, better that he do it in his Hylian form rather than as a wolf. I watched his transformation carefully, observing the blackened particles of Twilight as they fled his body. I couldn't help but feel a pang of regret as I saw his face, maybe I should've left him as a wolf after all wolves can't speak.

"Midna?" Link asked and I noticed he was breathing hard.

"Thanks," I replied coolly before ignoring him once again. There he got his thanks that was all I owed him, now I could sit here and die slowly in peace. Unless Zelda fended off the attack that I could still hear waging outside or Link could pull a miracle out of his butt I was going to die here. Here in this cramped space with a man I wasn't sure I wanted to kill or kiss. I resolved right then that – rescue or no rescue – I was going to figure this out. I didn't want to die not knowing if I had ever found love, especially if it was sitting a foot away from me. That would suck worse than dieing a virgin – oh for the love of Nayru.

"Midna, please just listen," Link pleaded. He was never one to give up easily.

"What? I changed you back now can you leave me alone?" I begged him angrily.

"I just wanted to say sorry," the soft tone of his voice caught me off guard. I glanced down at him to see he had reclined his head back against the makeshift wall with his eyes closed.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" I pondered aloud. He opened one eye to look at me and smiled softly. I felt my breath rush away again.

"Ilia," he said simply, shrugging his shoulders. "When you took off she yelled at me and told me to go find you." This surprised me. Why had Ilia yelled at him? It looked like they were having such a nice time when I left them.

"She didn't really tell me why or anything," he answered my unspoken question. "Guess its just a girl thing." He chuckled lightly and I rolled my eyes.

"Well in that case I guess I can apologize for slapping you at least for your girlfriend's sake," I pondered. His head snapped up and both of his storm-blue eyes looked at me in surprise.

"Girlfriend?" He squeaked.

"Yeah, the farm girl, I mean it is pretty obvious Link," I laughed half-heartedly. He started shaking his head before I even got the first word out though.

"No, no, no," he complained loudly. "She is _not_ my girlfriend she is my _best_ friend. I wish everyone would just get pass thinking that." His face clouded over in frustration. Even though I was glad to hear that he wasn't interested in the farm girl, I felt bad for him. I was no light dweller and I had assumed that he and Ilia were together, and if it was obvious even for me then it must've been even more so for all of his friends. I reached across the short gap between us and patted his knee. He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at me curiously.

"I didn't mean to assume, wolf boy, must be embarrassing for you," I consoled him. He snorted and pushed my hand away lightly. I shrugged and leaned back to my side of the death trap. "You know that's one thing I never understood about you."

He looked at me curiously. "Understand what exactly?"

"Well," I said thoughtfully, getting comfortable. "I know we never exactly talked about personal things on our little adventure, but of course for all obvious reasons. That being said I never understood your relationship with the girl. I mean the most I ever knew about you is that you live in Ordon and you're like what? The town babysitter?"

"Oh," he said a bit surprised. "Well did you want to know something specifically?"

I cocked my head to the side, uncertain of what to ask – honestly I had just been throwing a random thought out. "Well," I spoke a bit hesitantly, "what about your parents?" I immediately regretted asking as I watched his face fall. He looked away from me and started playing with some random pebble on the ground.

"They died a long time ago, I guess," he muttered with a shrug.

"Guess? Wait, you don't know what happened to your parents?" I looked at him curiously trying to get him to make eye contact with me again.

"Yeah. Bo, the mayor, found me in front of the tree that I live in now. I was just a baby, maybe a few months old. He took me back home with him where he and his wife looked after me for a year before Ilia was born. Then things got hard when her mother died in childbirth and Bo had to hand me over to Rusl. So…" he trailed off loosing steam.

"Oh, Link," I whispered reaching towards him, but he jerked his shoulder away from my touch. I noticed the water droplets on the floor and my heart lurched. I had never seen him cry before, but I guess remembering your lack of parentage did that to you. I scooted closer to him and wrapped my arms around his waist. He finally looked up at me with the saddest expression in his deep blue eyes. He bit his bottom lip to keep it from trembling and looked away again.

"What about you?" He asked, his voice low and husky.

I just shrugged. "Dad was the king had some affair with some random Twili and bada-bing, me." To my surprise I heard Link laugh, his good humor returning. Within moments his whole body was shaking with laughter.

"You mean to tell me that you're an accident?" He cackled.

I growled once and released him, returning to my side once again. "I was not an accident, no. My father needed an heir, it didn't matter how he got it."

"Even if it happened to be an accident," Link mocked. I bared my teeth at him and he stuck his tongue out at me. I lunged forward fully intending to rip the slimy thing from his mouth.

"Watch your tongue when you address royalty, boy!" I threatened.

"Yikes! Hey, come on!" He dodged me but it didn't do much good in the confined space. He banged his head on one of the stones and yelped in surprise as I grabbed the collar of his shirt.

"Any more comments?" I asked, raising my hand in a threatening manner. He shook his head quickly and I released him.

"How old are you anyways, Midna?" He panted.

"Why in Hyrule would you want to know how old I am?" I asked incredulously.

"Just curious," he replied with a shrug. "I always figured you're a lot older than me, considering the fact that you're constantly treating me like a misbehaving child."

"Maybe that's because you _do_ act like a misbehaving child," I suggested slyly. He rolled his eyes.

"Just answer the question."

"Fine, nineteen," I snapped. He looked mildly surprised. "And how old are you, Mr. Inquisitive?"

"Eighteen," he replied casually, rolling his eyes to look up at the ceiling. He could be so weird at times. Though it was nice to know that our age difference wasn't huge. It would be a bit awkward to know that we were ages apart. _Especially with the way you feel _a little voice in the back of my head muttered_._ _Shut up_ I yelled mentally. I glanced over towards Link. But it was true wasn't it?

I grew uncomfortable as my train of thought derailed. He could certainly pull off being married to royalty. I'd seen the way he fought so bravely in battle, but he still maintained a gentle touch when it was required. Balanced. I did need to marry _someone_ before I could become queen. Not to mention, aside from his strong, caring personality, he is rather handsome for a light dweller. My eyes trailed down his body, examining him…

I pulled my eyes away and shook my head furiously. He is my friend. Friend. Just friends. I continued to scold myself until Link spoke up again.

"So trapped and left for dead is nice, but I think it'd be even nicer to get out of here, what do you think?" Link suddenly asked with a grin. I was quick to pick up on his upbeat mood and looked around speculatively. How did he plan to get out of here exactly?

"Oh, I don't know, its sort of nice what with the shadows and all," I teased. He barked a laugh.

"You can't have shadows without light," he pointed out. I was tempted to say something horribly corny along the lines of 'you're all the light I need,' but rather than embarrass myself I simply shrugged. "So how do we get out?" He pondered out loud. I laughed at him and he gave me a 'what?' kind of look.

"Come on, Hero, we've been in far worse than this and it didn't require much brainpower on your part at all," I mocked him encouragingly. He looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out a bomb.

"What are you doing?" I screeched, trying to back up and not having much luck in the confined space. He gave me a thumbs-up before gently placing the bomb on the floor between us. It was about five seconds from blowing up.

"You create force fields, right?" He asked a bit puzzled. I stared at him with my mouth open.

"No! I do not! Where'd you even get an idea like that?" I yelled at him.

"Well I thought you could do _something_!" He defended himself adamantly.

"Like what?" I demanded.

"I don't know _something_!" He cried out in panic.

I growled to myself in frustration. "Come here wolf boy," I said quickly transforming him. He yelped in surprise. "Curl up tight!" I commanded him – hopefully the thick coat and thicker bones would be enough. Suddenly the bomb went off and at the last possible second – right as the bomb went off but just before the heat and force of the explosion reached me – I jumped into the shadow created by the bomb's detonation.

Lights flashed so bright that I had to close my eyes against them. I prayed to the goddesses Link was all right, the blast was a bit more forceful than I had been expecting.

The brilliant explosion faded away as quickly as it had come and I watched the debris rain down around me harmlessly. I jumped out of the shadow once it appeared to be safe again. I looked around but couldn't find Link right away. I took a step forward and yelped in surprise when I tripped over a huge furry leg. I scrambled up and took a step back from it as it started to move.

_Groan_.

Link stood up a bit unsteadily and shook his fur out sending dust and bits of stone everywhere. I covered my face with one hand and leaned over to use the other to transform again.

"Well that wasn't so bad," he stated with a grin before passing out. Lucky for him he happened to fall in my direction and landed safely on top of me, unlucky for me that I was now trapped under his dead weight. I sighed indignantly and blew a stray strand of hair out of my face.

I managed to roll him to the side after a few minutes. Leaning against the wall opposite where Link lay, I gazed around at the once beautiful Hyrule Castle. Bad enough the north side of the castle had just been repaired from Ganon's attack, now at least the entire west side's missing its roof. Didn't look as if though it was done crumbling yet either, the edges that were left lost some more of their mass every few minutes. I stared up at the sky and listened carefully.

Distant though it was, I could hear the rumble of thunder and an approaching storm. Not having a roof over my head wouldn't be good tonight. I looked up and down the hall, half hoping someone would suddenly appear and tell me everything was fine but no such luck. The castle was totally abandoned, I could tell as much from where I stood. Not a sound present with the exception of Link's steady breathing.

I grew more worried the longer I dwelt on thoughts of Hyrule's glorious castle and its people. I shook my head once, slowly. My eyes wandered back to Link's sleeping form. He looked so peaceful, sprawled on his back with a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips. Fleetingly I wondered what he could be dreaming about that would make him look so happy. Then I felt pity for the young Hylian. Once he woke up I knew we would set out to find out what had happened, and his peaceful state would be shattered – long gone once more. I walked over to his slumbering form and knelt down.

"You poor boy," I murmured thoughtfully. "You've been through so much for my kingdom and for your own land." I looked back to the sky as twilight began to settle over the land. "Why did you do this to him?" I questioned the clouds. "He deserves so much more than what you've put him through; he deserves so much more than putting up with me again…" I bit down on my lower lip and looked down at his tranquil face.

"I love you…" I whispered, leaning down to brush my lips against his smooth forehead. I blinked in surprise when the Triforce on his hand and mine glowed faintly.

"Midna," he muttered. For a brief terrifying moment I thought he might've heard me. Then he rolled over and mumbled again. I let out a sigh of relief. I reminisced and watched the moon rise slowly in the sky while waiting patiently for him to wake up. Finally, several hours later he stirred.

"Ow," he moaned. "Midna? What happened?" He asked in a daze. I laughed once.

"You blew yourself up," I told him with another laugh. Then I added seriously, "The castle was under attack, but I don't see anyone now."

"No one? What about…?" He asked confused. I shook my head before he could finish his sentence. I already knew what he was going to ask – no one was here, Hylian or other wise. He nodded slowly before standing up and tugging at his tunic. "Let's go," he commanded, full of energy from his nap and confidence. We made our way down the hall, heading for the front of the castle.

After a short time we entered the throne room and the severity of the attack began to show its true colors. The room was in ruins, roof half gone and the throne itself torn from its pedestal and thrown across the room, shattering in the process. The royal tapestries that had once adorned the walls were torn on the ground at best, but most of them were burned and blood soaked, the ashes of its unfortunate victim smeared on the once glossy threads. Stones from the collapsed roof lay scattered around the room, jutting out dangerously.

The more I stared at the bloodstains smeared across the floor the more uncomfortable I grew, though not for obvious reasons. As I stared at the now dry marks it was almost as if I could _hear_ the dieing screams of the men as the enemy stormed the castle. Screams of terror mingling with screams of pleasure…

I looked to the sky as a crack of thunder sounded through the dead night air. A bolt of lightening lit up the empty room only causing it to look worse than before in the bleached white and black of sudden but brief light.

"Do you hear something?" Link asked suddenly. I turned to face him and noticed his face was carefully calm, showing no emotion what so ever.

"No, should I?" I replied uncertainly. He nodded and I listened intently. After a minute I _could_ hear it. A dripping, like a single strand of water drops as they fell in a deep basin. _Drip, drip, drip._ Steady, rhythmic, and totally out of place. It was as dry as a bone in the darkened room, the moisture not yet joining the electrically charged storm air.

Another flash of light from the inevitable storm and I caught a glimpse of a puddle in the middle of the room at the same time Link did. We both approached it slowly. I knelt down and dipped a finger in the stuff. I examined the stain on my fingers, sniffing it and rubbing it around on my fingers. It was blood without a doubt, but it shouldn't have been so liquid still. Certainly it shouldn't have been warm.

I could feel adrenalin building up inside me as my hearing suddenly became much sharper and my entire body tensed. Another drop of blood fell from the ceiling, landing with a wet smack against the puddle. Slowly I looked away from my fingers to Link. His jaw was clenched. Slower still we both turned from each other and up to the ceiling.

I couldn't see anything in the dark crevice of the remaining roof at first, but the adrenalin shifted to my eyes, straining them against the blackness. A moment passed and I could make out a shape on the roof, then two separate forms, and with a flash of lightening I could see just in time to roll out of the way as a body fell from the ceiling and crashed with a bone-crunching ferocity where I had been squatting just moments before.

A shrill scream rang out through the dead halls of Hyrule Castle causing me to cover my ears in pain. Link mean while had his sworn and shield drawn just in time to block the undead that vaulted off the roof. Had I not seen anything and just heard the horrid cry I would've assumed it belonged to a redead, but upon closer examination I realized that this creature looked nothing like the living dead.

It was a Hylian.

Pointed ears, blood- and sweat-matted brown hair and a slender form. His – its – skin was as pale as the moon that was now lingering above us, hidden by the night storm. A blood red glow emitted faintly from its eyes, which were a blank white with no visible pupil or iris. Its lips were pulled up, showing its slightly pointed teeth in a threatening manner.

Ignoring the strange Hylian-like monster, I scampered to the body that had nearly crushed me. He was once a Hylian soldier that much was sure. Now he resembled little more than a corpse that had been rotting away for quite some time. His body was still warm with the lingering blood that slowly seeped from a wound in his chest, but the flesh was falling away from the bone. The skin was wrinkled and hair was gray as if though it belonged to an elderly man, but I knew this simply wasn't possible.

I had only been living here for a few days but one thing I immediately noticed was the youth of the army. Most of the previous soldiers had been lost to Zant during the Twilight Invasion, so of course they had to recruit new, _young_ soldiers. Zelda herself had mentioned the inexperience of her current army thanks to the usurper. No, there had to be another reason why this man looked so elderly.

His eyes were dull, but they retained the youth that his other features belied. The expression he wore was one of shock, eyes wide and jaw slack. Staring deeply into the dead eyes of the soldier I felt the same sensation from earlier begin to take root in my mind. Screams – the soldier's screams as the monster that Link was now battling lunged at him. The horror, the pain he felt: the tearing, slashing and burning. I turned my attention from his face, with some difficulty, to the wound he had sustained. I noticed that it was the only serious wound on his body.

I quickly removed the plate armor for a better look. To my surprise the wound didn't seem fatal. A cut, maybe three inches long stretched across his chest, as if he hadn't been wearing thick armor when he received it, but that in itself did not disturb me. What petrified me was how _badly_ the wound was bleeding. The scratch was not deep and yet it bled as if though it was as deep as it is wide.

I turned towards Link hearing him grunt from the force of the crazed Hylian's blow – quite an accomplishment considering it was only using its fists. I summoned some Twili magic and launched it towards the strange monster in the form of a red lightening bolt. It screeched indignantly and abandoned its fight with Link to attack me. It raced towards me on all fours, salivating and howling in rage.

I shot off another bolt of magic and the stench of charred flesh began to fill the air. To my displeasure the thing was still running full tilt towards me, my magic hardly even slowing it. A step away from me and it suddenly froze. I blinked once in confusion before I saw Link's sword point emerge from the beast's stomach, splattering me with blood and innards as it did.

Shocking both of us the monster spun around with the sword still skewering it and knocked Link off balance in the process. Link scrambled to regain his footing, but it was too late. The creature lunged for his throat. Panic gripped me and I did the last thing I could think to do in a situation like this. I transformed Link, who yelped in surprise.

Shaking off the transformation Link stood ready for his attacker and bared his razor like fangs. The strange Hylian like creature screamed again, this time in horror. It landed ungracefully just inches to Link's left. He spun to finish the monster off, but the creature – rather than bracing for the next attack – turned around and dashed up the towering wall and out through the hole in the roof.

I walked silently over to Link and changed him back without a word. We both looked at each other then back to the spot where the strange creature had vanished. I felt a chill run down my spine as I realized that wasn't the last we were to see of it.

Link turned away after another moment and walked towards the door. As I turned to follow him I couldn't help but feel like I was being watched from the shadows, an odd thing considering I always found comfort in the shadows just as much as any light dweller enjoyed their sun.

"Midna? Are you coming or what?" Link called impatiently. I quickly turned away from the shadows of Hyrule Castle and followed him down the steps into Castle Town.

* * *

I had thought that Hyrule Castle was in ruins, damaged beyond repair perhaps, but it was nothing compared to the city around it. Castle Town was a nightmare. Upon exiting through the last set of great doors that no longer existed and entering official Castle Town the pang of human weakness greeted my senses. Blood, urine, fear. I scrunched my nose up in distaste.

The cobblestones of the streets were cracked in some place, in others you couldn't even see the stone due to the debris scattered across the main square. Vendor's stands had been shattered and the splintered wood from them strewn across the streets. The fruit's juices from the produce seller leaked across the stones, mixing with the blood of men and women alike. Buildings were not on fire, surprisingly, but they were not in good condition. Glass from the shattered windows had rained on the streets below and some buildings had gaping holes in more than one place for easy entrance and exit. With a sinking heart I realized that the people of Castle Town had not escaped or been spared, their limbs were scattered about; neighbors' gore mingling with one another. A dismembered head with springy pigtails rolled from some shadowy place. I looked down at it and immediately regretted doing so. Poor Agitha.

The fountain in the center of the square was filled with blood-red water, its elegant top piece shattered on the ground below it. If I listened carefully I could hear the sewers of Castle Town's underbelly running full like after a heavy rain. No rain filled the streets yet though which led my thoughts down less pleasant avenues as to what might be rushing below my feet at this moment.

Nausea rose in my stomach and I swallowed back the bile that crept up my throat. Hyrule wasn't just attacked it was decimated.

"Link?" I asked timidly. I noticed his entire frame was shaking as he took in the main square several paces away from me. I took a step closer to him. "Link?"

"Change me," he commanded, his voice unemotional and cold. I felt a drop of rain slide down my shoulder, causing me to shiver in the cool night air.

"Link, I'm not going to change you just so you can go chasing after whoever did this," I told him sternly. He spun around to face me and I took an involuntary step backwards, the rage in his eyes surprised me. Teeth clenched and growling more like an animal than a man he stared me down, pure hate in his once peaceful eyes. The rain picked up, drenching me within minutes with the air freezing me within seconds.

"Midna I _need_ to transform so I can figure out what happened!" He screamed at me. Lightening accented his fury, bleaching the ground around him and throwing his profile into darkness. I stood firm in my resolve, jutting my chin out.

"Link I will not change you, no matter what your intentions, until you _calm down!"_ I yelled back at him. I stood panting for a moment. "Link," I spoke softly now, my voice under control again, "you need to think about this, then act. This isn't like anything we've faced before. If we rush in now we're as good as dead – just like everyone else."

Link continued to stare at me with rage in his eyes, but I could see my words sinking in. His eyes dulled, his fists unclenched and his jaw relaxed. I could see him draw a deep breath and hold it for a minute. Not until he slowly released his breath did I approach him again.

"We're going to find out who did this," I assured him. "And when we do…" I felt anger seep over my bones as I let the sentence trail off. I transformed Link and took a step back. "Go take a look around, I'll wait here," I commanded him. He nodded his great head once and took off with a bark, nose to the ground.

I walked slowly back to the fountain and sat down, covering my face with my hands so I wouldn't be able to see the carnage around me. If only I could just stop the screaming that was now raging in my head. Men, women and children all mingled. _Save us! Help me! Someone please!_ I was nearly on the verge of screaming out loud when I heard a sound behind me. I remained in the position I was in, but listened carefully, the voices in my head drowned out by instinctive self-preservation.

Thunder rumbled then: _crunch._ A sound like boots crunching on snow or a foot stepping too heavily on a piece of glass. I spun around to face the person who made the disturbance on their knees. The person must've been the one who I felt watching us earlier inside the castle, but who was it…

"Zelda?" I asked uncertainly. The figures head snapped up and I realized that it was indeed the queen of Hyrule, still here even after all of her people had either fled or been killed by the onslaught.

"Why, goddesses, why…?" I heard her barely inaudible whisper. Her body shook in anger much like Link's had upon first seeing the scene. I abandoned my perch and approached her slowly. She looked up at me with sorrow brimming over her eyes. I knelt down next to her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. I had lost my people before; I actually took part in the slaughter of some while they were cursed Twili beasts with Link. Despite every little difference between Zelda and myself, at the end of the day we were people praying we were doing the right thing just like everyone else.

"Zelda, I know this looks bad but they couldn't have gotten them all," I attempt to reassure her. A flash of lightening tore through the sky, lighting the bloody mess known as Castle Town Square.

"You're wrong Midna," she murmured softly, a new fire burning in her eyes and drying away the sobering tears. "You should have seen them. Waltzed right up to me and no one stopped them. They look like us Midna!" She suddenly lurched to her feet, pulling me along with her.

"Hey!" I protested as she started shaking me roughly.

"They look like us!" She started screaming over and over again. "They look like us! They look like us! They look like – " I slapped her, cutting off the hysteric wailing. Taking a step back, I crossed my arms and waited for her to speak again. If she started in again I was going to kill her to put her out of her misery.

"I'm sorry Midna," she whispered, ashamed. I shrugged my shoulders indifferently. A few minutes of silence passed as we became lost in our own thoughts.

"Where's Link?" She asked suddenly.

"He took off a few minutes before you showed up actually." She nodded once and looked over my shoulder. A small smile stretched across her thin lips. I glanced behind me to see Link standing there, tail and head erect, proud beast as always.

"Hey Link," I greeted him, walking over and scratching him behind the ears once before changing him.

"Zelda?" He asked, voice hoarse. She nodded and took a step towards him. He quickly closed the gap between them and enfolded her in his arms. I couldn't help but admire them at this moment. Neither shed a tear though they knew very well that they might be the last living Hylians left in the world. They just stood there, taking comfort from each other's presence, words not needed to communicate the pain and hope they shared.

I turned my head to the east, the brightness catching me off guard after such a long night filled with so much darkness. The sun was rising, we were past the worst, and we were together. The rain had slowed to a find mist having washed away most of the spilled blood and cleansed the lands. I couldn't help but smile a little. The nightmare had just begun, true, but we could get through this. We've pulled off miracles before after all. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned to see Link smiling at me, though his eyes were still filled with an aching sadness.

"I found some supplies on the east edge of town, I guess they were just delivered today; they're still in crates," He informed me.

"Oh boy," I sighed. "Sounds like its time to walk all the way to the end of Hyrule and back _again._"

"Yeah, but you don't get to ride around on my back this time," he replied with a smirk. I rolled my eyes and started to walk towards the east side of town with Link and Zelda following close behind.


	6. Long Nights

_Chapter Five: Long Nights_

"Ew," I muttered looking at Link who was now spattered with blood from the freshly killed bulblin.

"Link go wash yourself off," Zelda commanded almost immediately. Link just shrugged and started walking again.

We had been walking for a couple of days now with Castle Town well behind us. After gathering some supplies we decided our first stop was Ordon Village. If this was anything like the Twilight invasion, then Ordon would likely be untouched for the most part. Luck granting, the people of the village wouldn't even know there was a new invasion… yet. Link woke up with a grin on his face this morning, telling Zelda and I that we'd make it to Ordon before nightfall today. He was obviously looking forward to checking on his friends, and Zelda would be glad to take a break from sleeping on the hard ground. Me though?

I didn't care either way. For the most part I had been riding in Link's shadow so obviously I wasn't very exhausted. In fact I was the most energetic out of either of my two companions. Not once had I even slept under the stars with them. Like I said, most of the time Link's shadow was just fine by me. Cool, comfortable, and I could watch over Link a bit easier. If something were to attack I would want to be as close as possible not dragging behind like Zelda. Hmm, where _is_ Zelda anyways?

"Hey Link," I called from the depths of his shadow. He stopped and stared down. "I think you lost someone." He spun around; looking frantically for the now lost Queen of Hyrule. I spotted her first, standing a good ten yards away. I almost hit my head with my palm at her expression: frowning with her feet planted and arms crossed. It almost looked like she was pouting but not quite. No, this was a classic the-princess-gets-what-she-wants pose. Of course, Zelda wasn't technically a princess anymore…

"Zelda!" Link called, exasperated. "Hurry up, I want to get to Ordon. The sooner we get there the sooner we can return to Castle Town and start rebuilding." Zelda stood her ground, simply shaking her head. I rolled my eyes as Link started to walk back to her.

"Zelda what are you –" The queen in question held up a hand causing Link to stop talking mid-sentence, obedient to a fault as always.

"Link I requested that you wash yourself off before traveling any further now I demand it, lest you wish for an execution as home coming," Zelda proclaimed icily. I hadn't realized she could be so harsh. Link glared back defiantly for a moment before a strange look came over his face, almost like he was in pain. Suddenly the Triforce on my hand glowed brilliantly, if only for a moment, and I was forced from his shadow. Landing unceremoniously on my butt, I glanced up at Link to see his face back to normal.

"Fine," he pouted, walking towards the nearby creek. I cocked my head to the side and looked up at Zelda who was now whistling with her hands behind her back.

"Zelda?" I asked curiously. She glanced down at me. "Did you see that just now?"

"See what?" She replied with a frown.

"The Triforce on my hand lighting up at the same moment Link looked like he was in pain," I clarified. Zelda simply stared at me with even greater confusion.

"I didn't see anything," she said with a quick shrug. Link chose to make his reappearance then, and we continued on our way to Ordon, the brief but strange moment forgotten for now.

* * *

Due to what Link was referring to as "Zelda's episode" we had to camp out again that night at Faron's spring. In honor of the last night under the stars I decided to sleep outside of Link's shadow with the Hylians, if only to see what the big attraction was.

A fire was lit, and with a quick good night everyone chose his or her side of the fire for the night. Zelda slept closer to the spring while Link slept closer to the Ordon side of the flames. I didn't care either way, really, but I chose to sleep on the side closest to the tunnel that led to Coro, the lantern oil merchant, and Faron woods. I had some of my fondest memories in those woods.

I glanced over at Link who was staring forlornly towards his home. His deep blue eyes, though fearless as always, were plagued by the heartache of homesickness. I wondered if he had ever looked so defeated and almost hopeless on our previous journey together. I couldn't recall a single time where Link was really desperate, almost fearful of what could happen. Link was never really one for what-ifs, yet here he was as readable as a book.

What if Ordon hadn't been so lucky this time? What if we were walking into a trap? What if he had to see his best friend dead? What if he had to see his adoptive-family slaughtered like goats? What if… what if… what if…

I raised my hand up and smacked Link on the back to the head. He attempted to jump up and spin around, but got tangled in his sleeping mat and went face-first into the dirt.

"Hey, Link?" I asked, just barely resisting a smile. "Nice fall, I give it a ten." He squirmed around trying to detangle himself, flinging dirt everywhere in the process. "Ew, Link watch it," I complained loudly, getting a spray of dirt down my shirt. Finally he managed to sit up.

"What was that for?" He demanded. I sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder, gently.

"Link," I murmured softly, "you must stop worrying about everything. What ever happens, we'll deal with it together. Just like the first time. Relax, please." He smiled at me and nodded once before flopping back onto the ground. He was out within minutes.

I let out a sigh and glanced towards Zelda, who was still awake. She caught my eye and smiled gently asking, "What's on your mind Midna?"

I peeked over at Link to make sure he was asleep before responding. "Mostly about the Forest Temple near here, deeper in the woods, and how hard I was on him during it," I replied with a sad smile.

Zelda nodded once in understanding. "I've told you before Midna, you were destined to make a hero out of him, you shouldn't feel so bad over doing that the hard way at first." She paused briefly, to look at Link's slumbering form. "Besides, it's not like you really hate him or anything, not any more." I scowled at her wordlessly.

After a few moments of silence Zelda spoke up again. "What was it like?"

"Well," I pondered out loud, my thoughts drifting back to the Forest Temple. "It was definitely one of his turning points."

* * *

Link stood, panting, on the edge of the pool of now crystal clear water. His mouth was hanging open, eyes wide. For a moment I was worried he might pass out and drown himself in the water. He continued to stand there and I grew impatient. What was wrong with him? Why was he just standing there? Oh, so a big scary plant tried to kill him, big whoop. I got the fused shadow, he got to help his pet monkey, everyone's happy, now can we leave please?

I floated over to him and tried to smack him, but my hand passed through his jaw like a ghost. He yelped and spun around to face me, drawing his sword in the process.

"Oh, would you calm down?" I scolded him. "Just get in the portal so we can get out of here, I'm sick of this place." He put his sword away, uncertainly. I floated over to the portal and beckoned him. Link walked slowly towards the portal, but paused on the edge.

"M-Midna?" He asked, eyes filled with a mix of wonder and horror. "Will all of the Fused Shadows… will we have to kill things like this for every single one?" I rolled my eyes and shook my head.

"How am I supposed to know?" I snapped at him. "You're job is to get the Fused Shadows, not cry about killing monsters." Flinching at my tone, he looked down and fingered his tunic nervously before speaking.

"You know, there are many people who would think that you and I are monsters, if they were ever able to see us," he spoke slowly, judging each word.

"You're only a monster part of the time, Wolf Boy," I hissed. "I am always going to be a monster to your people, why do you think I want the Fused Shadows so badly? I want to go home where everyone thinks I'm perfectly normal, not some freakish shadow imp. I swear if I had my way I would destroy your world and return to mine, laughing as yours burned. Then you hateful light-beings can call me a monster all you want!" I huffed and turned away from him, embarrassed by my outburst.

If this blue-eyed beast were to help me then he couldn't be thinking that I might betray him in the end.

I turned around to find Link silently waiting for me in the portal. With a burst of Twili magic we were transferred outside. Link remained silent for the entire walk to Eldin province, right up to the Twilight barrier that would take him another step closer to saving his realm and mine. As he talked to the light spirit, Eldin, and started his search for the Light, I thought about what words had been exchanged between us so far.

It remained painfully obvious, no matter what way I looked at the situation, that Link and I didn't trust each other at all. A summary of our relationship would be "at each other's throats." Which would be fine with me, but he needed to believe he could trust me with his life. Otherwise he might start to question my actions and words. Then that was just a stone's throw away from leaving me to die in Hyrule Field.

Of course, he's much more powerful in this realm than I am. Link is the Hero of Light, a beacon of all that is good and strong. If he really wanted to he could easily leave me… it would even be a simple thing to kill me. No, he's the Light Realm's hero for a reason; he doesn't kill without a good intention. Which I guess is why the first temple we were forced to go through shook him up so much. The peaceful disposition must be in his blood-history somewhere, though. There isn't a Twili that I know of who wouldn't kill his own mother if he had to.

I resolved to learn more about Hylian history once I returned home. Though it would be shameful to admit out loud, this Light Dweller fascinated me.

Nonetheless, I couldn't let him think he held power over me. I would lull him into a false sense of security, gain his trust. I nearly gagged at what that could mean for me though. He was a smart kid, not easily fooled, but he had a tragic flaw just like all heroes. A weakness, so painfully obvious, one almost overlooks it. I saw the way his eyes lit up when he spoke of Ilia. The way he blushed when Zelda lowered her hood in Hyrule Castle.

The hero who could conquer the world was horribly shy and awkward around the opposite sex. Laughable? Yes. Useable? Totally.

* * *

I kept the part about finding his weakness out of the story as I explained things to Zelda. I smiled to myself, remembering how elated I had been at the revelation. Such a simple way to manipulate him, I had thought at the time. Little did I know I didn't need it. Link had a heart of gold; there really was no other way to put it.

"Eldin Province came and went without much instance," I continued as Zelda listened, enthralled by the story. "Aside from Link learning how to sumo wrestle, nothing really interesting happened. Well we did find the br – er, kids, but I didn't really care much for them either way, in all honesty. Then we moved on to Lanayru Province, and forced our way through the Zora's Temple." My face clouded over as the story started to slow in my mind.

I had repressed this part of the tale for a long time. It was one of the most nightmarish parts of our journey. Honestly everything had been fairly innocent up until we finished off the monster at the bottom of the lake. Our worst mistake was taking Zant for granted, though I would never admit it out loud. It was my fault that everything happened as it did after that. If only I had been more cautious, or we had some kind of warning. We thought we were doing so well. And then…

"We went to speak to Lanayru after obtaining the last Fused Shadow, then the plan was to move on to the Hyrule Castle and destroy the problem at its source," I told Zelda, picking up the story once more.

She frowned. "This is right before you came to me for help?" I nodded once and her face turned grim. "Continue, please."

* * *

I grinned to myself in Link's shadow. The last Fused Shadow, finally! After Link spoke with the Light Spirit we would be on our way to challenge Zant. If he remained in this world then it would be simple to make our way to Hyrule Castle and take him out there. Something pricked at the back of my thoughts. How did Zant get to this realm in the first place? He had thrown me out of the palace and then, next thing I knew, I was in this world. How did I get back home?

I shrugged, indifferently. We could interrogate him before we destroyed him. I smiled up at Link from my place in his shadow, he could do it – I knew it in the bottom of my heart. He could challenge Zant and win. I leapt nimbly from his shadow to create a portal for him to exit through.

"Ready, Wolf Boy?" I asked, using my favorite nickname for him.

"You bet," he replied eagerly. "I can't wait to get the kids home and then I can focus on helping Ilia." A brief look of pain flashed across his face before he shook it off and walked over to the portal. I made no comment at this; I couldn't care less about the obnoxious farm girl.

As we reformed in Lanayru's spring I could tell something was off. I saw him before Link did.

Zant.

Link gasped in surprised and took a step back. Suddenly Lanayru sprung from his resting spot and prepared to destroy the evil that had infiltrated his sacred place. The usurper king didn't even flinch in the face of the light spirit's attack. A shockwave of magic rolled off Zant and to my utter horror Lanayru was blasted down along with Link. The light spirit vanished and Twilight flooded the area. Link transformed, forcing me from his shadow in the process.

Zant suspended me in midair and was quick to seize the Fused Shadows. I tried to protest and break free, but his magic held firm. He took one look at the Fused Shadows and tossed them away like trash. He questioned my loyalties and I questioned him right back: How could he abuse our tribe's magic? He seemed insulted by this, claiming his magic was not the same as mine. It was a new magic.

Ready to teach me a lesson, Zant flung me across the floor and prepared to shoot me down with some of his so-called _new_ magic, but Link regained consciousness and leapt at him. The wolf took the full force of Zant's blow and was thrown across the room, losing consciousness once more.

The usurper pulled me towards him and started to talk about things he knew nothing about.

…one of the light dwellers who oppressed our people…You cannot consort with their kind! …Lend me your power…

I broke free from his grip and rushed to Link's side. I vaguely heard Zant mutter something along the lines of, "So be it," but I was too worried about Link to notice. Link. Oh, Link, goddesses, please… I couldn't lose him, not now. Not when all of our hard work was just starting to come together. I can't lose you! Please wake up…!

Suddenly I was jerked harshly away from Link's side once more and forced in front of Lanayru. Briefly it looked as if though Lanayru was confused by what he was attacking, like he missed a beat and couldn't find the rhythm again. My skin tingled as the light approached and for the first moment it didn't hurt. Then I screamed as the pure light hit me, undiluted by any shadow, and pain rushed in. I lost my grip on reality. The black abyss of my own mind swallowed me.

* * *

"Of course I was in and out for most of the trip through the sewers," I concluded. "But, then again, you know the rest of the story from there." Zelda shook her head affirmatively.

"You changed after that," she stated.

"Yes, though everything happened so fast once we reached Ganon. I wasn't around long enough to figure out if you were the one who changed me or if I really…" I looked up at her puzzled. After Ganon was defeated I really did wonder how much of my relationship with Link, and the Light Realm in general, was effected by Zelda.

She put her hands up defensively. "Now Midna, you know as well as I do I couldn't influence you. All I was able to do was wait and observe in the back of your mind." I shrugged indifferently. Now that I had returned to the Light Realm I guess the question of her influence was a moot point. Even without having a Light Dweller in my head, I still held a certain love for this realm and the people within it. I glanced over at Link.

He never had any doubts as to where his loyalties lie. A part that I loved so much despite the trouble it gave me in the end. Loyal to the last, my eyes locked with his as the mirror shattered: the pain, the hurt, everything echoing between us as our worlds fell apart just as everyone else's pulled together. I quickly shied away from the memories that were speeding down a path I had no desire to visit again.

"Do you remember the Arbiter's Grounds?" I inquired suddenly. Zelda pulled her gaze away from the fire and looked at me thoughtfully. "I've always been kind of curious as to how much you really saw…"

* * *

"Midna, let's warp up to Castle Town, I think the Adventurer's Guild might be able to help again," he deduced with a grin. Obviously playing detective excited him, and he didn't hold a doubt in his mind. The opposite was true for me. Arbiter's Grounds had been a waste of time – a wild cucco chase. I warped him when he asked me to, not really caring about the where and why any more.

The entire situation I found myself in left me in a state of pondering, with Zelda commenting, naturally.

My mission to save my realm and my people from Zant failed. I had to face that now. The thought felt like a razor blade. I failed. I would pray everyday for them. Zant wanted desperately to rule the Twilight Realm, but that didn't mean he wanted our people to suffer. There could be hope for them. As for the Light Realm, well…

I looked around Hyrule Field as Epona's hoofs thundered against the rocky terrain. The sun shone brilliantly as if encouraging this wild cucco chase. I couldn't help but smile at the look on Link's face. He looked so joyous, so carefree, so determined. The beginning had been hard on him; he was just realizing his destiny as the Hero of Light when he got partnered with a cranky imp. Maybe this really is it. Maybe it was my destiny to guide him as a blossoming hero and assist in saving the Light Realm.

That certainly made sense. The Twilight Realm was a doomed and cursed place that was now shut off from the goddesses' beloved Hyrule. Of course everything wasn't back to normal quite yet. There was still the matter of Zelda for one thing.

_I'm the last thing we need to worry about. _

Right, the castle was still trapped under that Twilight barrier. It would be hard to break without the Fused Shadows or some extra muscle. Not that the people really cared it seemed, with the exception of Telma and her group. We had to dethrone Ganon and return Zelda to her rightful place. Then everything would be back to normal.

_What about Link's friend Ilia, and you?_

I frowned at the mention of the farm girl. When we first arrived at Castle Town, or more accurately when Link finally arrived in his Hylian body, I expected Ilia to take one look at him and start singing in joy. She didn't though. She took one look at him and then started worrying over the Zora boy again. I could feel Link's shock as she turned away from him without recognition. Link would find a way to help her, of that I was sure.

_You're still avoiding the largest problem here. What about _you?

Oh, gee thanks, I'm a problem.

_You know what I mean. If you don't return to the Twilight Realm where will you live in the Light Realm? How will you live here? I've seen my fair share of strange creatures, but you look like nothing I've ever seen previous to the invasion. People will become suspicious, and they certainly won't trust you. What are you going to do?_

This was the most difficult question to answer. I could accept the fate of my people. I could accept that I existed solely to help Link become what he was destined to be. All of that was easy, though. What about me? Where was my place in this world? No, that wasn't the right question to ask. I already knew my place in this world. I didn't belong here; I had no place in this realm. Maybe I could just lie in Hyrule Field and wait for a keese to pick my brains out.

_Midna!_

I sighed. Okay, fine. Maybe that was a little extreme. The only real option I had was Link's shadow. I could stay here and watch over him. I would never have to leave him like I originally planned.

_Even if you never leave this world behind you should tell him how you feel, Midna. He deserves to know. Plus I would think you'd like to know if he returns those feelings…_

No, shut up. We've talked about this. You live in an awfully romantic mind for a princess.

_Actually that's pretty normal where I'm from. And need I remind you that I'm not in my own mind at that moment…?_

Ew, don't put it like that, it sounds creepy.

_You know what I mean._

Yeah but I wouldn't even know how to tell him. And, no, I don't want your help before you ask. I want to tell him myself, not with the help of a voice in my head. No, no, no I refuse to even consider this. It's only you planting ideas in my head! You should know that a princess is trained to avoid men not run into their arms like a fairy tale.

_So much for Link's weakness being the opposite sex…_

Would you please stay out of my head!

_Well…_

Never mind! You know what I mean! I want some of my memories to be left undefiled.

_I only look at memories that stand out and call to me. I haven't read anything from before you met Link. Its not as if I'm trying to be a pain in the—_

"Hey Midna," Link called, standing in a small tunnel. I popped out of his shadow.

"What's up?" I asked, shivering. There was an artic blast filtering through the tunnel, and I wondered where we were at the moment. I had yet to be somewhere Hyrule that was this frigid.

"We're going up the mountain, I need you to change me so I'm not freezing to death," he explained with a big, goofy smile on his face and a spark of excitement in his eyes. I nodded, changing him, and, with a practiced move, landed nimbly on his furry back. I reclined with a sigh as he dashed into the growing snowstorm.

Five minutes later and I couldn't get close enough to Link's warm wolf-body. The Twilight Realm was a place in constant Twilight, obviously, so the weather never changed. There's no such thing as a warm day or cool day, there are only days – well only twilights technically. I never realized that temperature even changed this dramatically.

Link whined uneasily, worried about me I assumed seeing as there was no other danger near by with the exception of the storm. I opened my mouth to reassure him only to find I couldn't speak through my chattering teeth. The cold really had gotten to me. Link trotted off to a near by cave, instinctively knowing, I guess, that I needed to warm up.

I transformed him back into his Hylian form before slumping against the cave wall furthest from the storm.

"Midna? Are you okay?" he inquired in a worried tone. "You don't look so good."

"I don't feel so good." He frowned down at me thinking for a moment before removing his tunic and boots. I watched him curiously. "You're going to freeze," I told him bleakly as he tugged his gauntlets off. Soon he was stripped down to only a pair of shorts. He was quick to build a good-sized fire between us, to keep us from both dieing a miserable, frozen death.

"Feeling any better?" He questioned, still worried about me when he was the one without any clothes on.

"I'd feel better if you'd put your clothes back on, you're going to catch a cold or something," I complained, voicing my concern. He shook his head and, gesturing to the clothes, said:

"They're wet, I'm more likely to get sick with them on."

Weird. How'd his clothes get wet when he was in wolf form? Then again I'd never seen his coat anything but dry before so maybe the clothes change with the fur. He sat down next to me and wrapped strong arms around my waist. I started to protest and tried to squirm away, but he wouldn't have it.

"If I don't keep you warm you'll freeze, this is the best way," he explained, ever patient.

I would've argued and pointed out that there was a fire right there, but resting in his arms did warm me up much faster than the fire. So I sat on his lap (which was much more preferred than the cold stone floor) and rested my head against his soft, warm chest. I thought how strange it was that he's just as warm with fur as without. He rested his chin on my head and within minutes he had drifted asleep.

I found that sleep evaded me through out the night. I remained distracted by thoughts of Link and what he was doing for me. Keeping me warm, sure, but also searching for the shards when I had given up hope. He really was a beacon of light in these dark times. I risked a look at his face as he slept peacefully. His blonde hair had grown lighter in the desert sun and I wondered if it would dull down a bit after a time.

I reached up and placed a gentle hand on his cheek. His hands were calloused and worn from this little adventure, but his face remained soft and un-aged by the troubling events of late. My hand drifted down, tracing the line of his jaw then trailing down to his strong chest. It was no wonder everyone liked him, he was certainly attractive by Light Dweller standards. Honestly he was attractive by Twili standards as well, though it was a more… exotic attraction.

_Hey careful with the thoughts there, I have to hear them too you know._

I groaned in frustration. Give me a break, princess; it is _my_ head after all. I sighed and leaned my head on Link's powerful shoulder. It wasn't supposed to happen like this. I was never destined to fall in love with him and yet I did, didn't I? I clenched my jaw and tried to drawn out my own feelings. I never thought love hurt this much. I can't…

_Don't beat yourself up over it, Midna. Love is not something you can control, nor should it be._

Maybe not, but it was wrong. Link and I came from two different worlds that couldn't mix. Just look at what happened when they did. An innocent soul was forced to forge into the darkness to save people who would never truly appreciate him. He thought he could find the mirror's shards and I had to believe in that – I had to believe in him. I just needed my escape first. Then, once the Light Realm was back to normal, with Ganon dead and Zelda out, I could leave – for good.

_…Midna… I may not be in Link's head, but I can tell you that leaving him is the last thing he wants._

But it's the first thing he needs, I countered. She fell silent.

I could shatter the mirror. Zant couldn't because of his bloodline, but I could. The Light and Dark would never mix again, my plan was perfect because Link wouldn't find out until it was too late to stop me – if he even cared enough to try. My gaze drifted back to Link's angelic face. I felt a single tear drop run down my cheek.

Yes, perfect.

* * *

The night on Snowpeak Mountain had been a turning point, for better or for worse. If not for that night then Link and I would've remained as friends. We wouldn't be stumbling around in this clumsy and awkward friendship. Some things just shouldn't have been said. I thought after the mirror was shattered I'd never have to live through soft spoken words on cold nights, where maybe you inched a little closer because it was cold. And maybe you just touched him because, well, who was really going to know? Who could possibly find out if we just lost ourselves in each other for an hour or two?

No one would know – we'd never have to speak of it again.

"You were pretty quite that night," I commented.

Zelda shrugged, looking a little uncomfortable. "I didn't _want_ to be an intrusion; you two needed a night to yourselves. I'm sure you could use another one soon, hm?" I laughed once without humor.

"You being in my head and actually sitting right there makes kind of a big difference," I informed her. "Aside from that, we have more pressing matters." Zelda's face turned grim as she recalled said 'pressing matters.'

"Well you told me a story, how about I tell you one?" She inquired, a smile upon her lips.

"Don't you need sleep?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you want to hear a story or not?"

"Fine, fine, let's hear it."

"Long ago lived the first Princess Zelda – the first one to hold a Triforce piece and the first to assist in Ganondorf's downfall. You would never think it, but I am a reincarnation of her – as Link is a reincarnation of the hero of the time," she started, her face turning thoughtful. "The Zelda of the time when the Triforce first appeared in the royal bloodline was also known as Princess of Destiny, and she has tried to contact me through similar methods used on her.

"Through dreams, she's told me things about the hero of our time and how to find him. She's also tried to warn me to watch for certain signs that foreshadowed Ganon's return. Obviously, despite her best efforts, I was incapable to receive all of the knowledge I needed before it was too late. Triforce of Wisdom indeed," Zelda snorted softly and shook her head. "Well I did learn that the Link and Zelda of that time were, how should I say… rather intimate.

"They noticed things that other generations couldn't have because of that. Like how each of their Triforce pieces seemed to react to the others the deeper their relationship became. Eventually the Princess of Destiny claimed she could communicate with the Hero of Time, her Link, through the power of the Triforce," Zelda concluded.

I mulled this over for a few minutes before responding. "Wouldn't that be dangerous?" I asked.

Zelda looked surprised, "How do you mean?"

"Well, if someone, somehow, tainted that connection wouldn't it be disastrous for both of them?" I clarified.

Zelda's expression turned grim. "Yes, they were very aware of their fault in creating the connection, but they were well practiced at keeping secrets. It is very likely the reason the hero's birth now comes after the Wisdom holder's and frequently in a very different area. Even untainted as the pieces of Wisdom and Courage, that does not make them impervious."

"Wisdom and courage?" I questioned, a little confused.

"Oh, right," she muttered before answering. "You must realize that there were – are – three pieces of the Triforce. Those pieces represent the three goddesses. Link holds the piece of courage, from Farore, and I wisdom from Nayru."

"So I have Din's which is…" I trailed off uncertainly.

"Power," Zelda concluded.

I nodded and stared blankly into the fire. Zelda's words made for a good history lesson, but nothing more. After all, I wasn't one destined to retain the Triforce, so I couldn't control its magic. Certainly I couldn't create a bond that has been banished for hundreds, possibly thousands of years, with the strange gift from the goddesses.

I knew enough Hylian history to understand Din was a reckless and easily angered goddess, hence the Triforce of Power. I could understand the more laid-back Nayru and loyal Farore creating a bond through wisdom and courage, respectively. Yes, I'm quite certain Link would just as soon propose to Zelda as I was to create a bond through the Triforce with him. Honestly I've had enough of this whole creepy Hylian 'bonding.' Why did Hylians have to bind through magic in such strange ways? First Zelda harassing my mind and now possibly Link through a dead stone in my hand.

Said stone quickly flashed as if to remind me that it wasn't simply a 'dead stone.' I looked to the Eastern horizon and noticed for the first time that the morning twilight was approaching, and the once roaring fire had dimmed to a miserable flame. I groaned loudly. Great now I was going to be sleep deprived for the rest of the day.

Link stirred on his cot and slowly awoke. "Mmrgm?" He asked, rubbing sleep from his eyes.

"Come again?" I asked tilting my head to the side in amusement.

"Why are you awake so early" – He looked over at Zelda – "and you?"

I shrugged. "It was a long night."

He seemed to accept this and began packing his things, eager to reach Ordon. I hadn't really given much thought about what to do while in Ordon. Certainly I didn't want to stand around and have the villagers gawk at me while Link was resting up and Zelda was settling down. As I pondered this I vaguely noticed Zelda talking to Link, but it wasn't until Zelda tapped my shoulder did I pay them any heed.

"Midna, why don't you and Link go for a walk? I'll clean up here – I really haven't been doing enough. You two deserve a break," she explained. I scowled at her. She just smiled and started to douse the fire.

"Fine, come on Link," I commanded, walking off towards the deeper part of the Faron Woods.

* * *

"What were you two talking about all night?" Link asked suddenly. We had been sitting on a soft patch of grass by a stream in silence up until his inquiry. I was a bit surprised when he asked; I didn't think he would realize we were up all night. _I must look really tired_, I mused to myself

"Just random stuff," I responded. "Zelda told me that you could communicate through the Triforce – that was probably the highlight of the night."

"Communicate through the Triforce… How?" His tone caused me to look at him curiously. He sat, patiently waiting for me to continue, his features not giving away any hints as to what he might be thinking.

"Well supposedly it's really hard to do." I hedged.

"Can we try?" He wondered excitedly. "That could be really useful while we look for Ganon and figure out what happened at the castle." Naturally, the Hero of Light was up to a challenge. I cursed Farore and her stupid courage piece.

"It could be really dangerous," I cautioned him. His face lit up, like some realization just dawned on him. He fell silent and turned towards the bubbling brook once more. He was quiet long enough for me to think that maybe he forgot about it.

"I think we should try," he said, speaking softly. "We've been through a lot together, I think we can handle this." He paused, frowned and looked up at me. "How would we do _this_ anyway?"

"I think, um," I hesitated, not really sure what to tell him. Zelda mentioned something about the last two people to form the connection were very… "Uh, I' m not sure, really," I bluffed.

"Here," Link said, offering me his hand. I just stared at it. He let out a heavy sigh and grabbed my hand. Slowly, he raised his eyes and looked right into my own. "Anything?" He spoke softly, like if he were to speak too loudly he would scare me off. I shook my head in a negative. He leaned closer to me and rested his forehead on my own. The tips of our noses brushed and he whisper, "What about now?"

"Nothing," I breathed.

"Maybe…" He moved a little closer, tilting his head so his lips brushed mine. I felt a fire deep in the pit of my stomach flare and I leaned into the kiss with more enthusiasm than Link had expected. "Midna," he mumbled – it sounded almost like a warning. "We can't…" he started to pull away, but I quickly grabbed the front of his shoulders.

"I just need to know," I whispered. I pressed my body closer to his and buried my hands in his soft, golden hair. He tensed; the last of his uncertainty fleeing as my tongue traced along his bottom lip. I felt his strong hand slide down my waist and slip under my traveling blouse.

We probably would've continued on like this for a while. Who's to say? Maybe we would've gone beyond this sweet kiss. Maybe we would've finally gotten the courage to just say those three words. Maybe, but we were never destined to know.

Suddenly thunderous rumbling could be heard and Link broke away from me to stand up. I was quick to followed suit and leapt to my feet. We stood tense, the last few minutes forgotten for the time being. We waited for some sign of movement in the suddenly silent and eerie trees. A fog seemed to roll over the clearing and I felt Link reach for his sword, slowly.

I heard him before I saw him.

"Well, well, well," he commented dryly. "What have we here?" Without waiting for an answer he continued. "Naughty, naughty Hero of Time, you should be in more control of your emotions than this. You remember what happened last time." I could finally see the owner of the voice, nothing more than a shadowy figure from this distance. Slowly he walked through the fog of the forest and my throat squeezed shut as I realized who stood across the clearing from me – Ganondorf.

Suddenly a bright light to my side diverted my attention from the specter. I turned in time to see Link fall to his knees, clutching his left hand and dropping his sword in the process. He howled out in pain for the briefest moment before collapsing on the ground.

"Link!" I cried out in panic, kneeling next to him. Ganon walked a little closer and I suddenly had a flash of déjà vu.

You cannot consort with their kind…

Link groaned and I snapped out of my revere. "Link?" I shook his shoulder, attempting to get him up before Ganon got any closer. If he didn't get up we'd both be dead. Slowly but surely Link rose to his feet and picked up the Master Sword. He spat off to the side before raising his eyes to meet Ganon's.

"Hey, Scumbag," he greeted the dark lord.

"Hm, you aren't the Ordon boy are you?" Ganon questioned. Link barked a laugh.

"Nope and I have to say its pretty nice to be in a physical body again. At the very least I can see why you did it, but," Link paused, his eyes narrowing dangerously, "that doesn't give you the right to come back."

Ganondorf snorted unbelieving. "You're one to lecture, look at what you've done." He gestured towards Link and laughed. The hero scowled.

"Unfortunately," Link replied with a grin, the cockiness returning to his voice. "This one is much weaker than I was, not nearly as much experience. You would've killed him and I can't have that happening now can I?" Link sighed and rubbed his arm, absentmindedly. "My poor son, at least he had his childhood to live through, but it made him weak…"

My eyes darted between Link and Ganondorf, confused. What were they talking about? And what's wrong with Link? "Link…?" I questioned, uncertainly. He turned towards me and blinked once as if just now realizing I was standing next to him.

"Who are you?" He replied just as uncertain. My mind drew a blank as I tried to process his question.

"Link!" Shouted an enraged voice. Link tore his gaze away from me and turned his head slowly to the source of the sound. "What in the name of Farore do you think you're doing?" Zelda screeched dashing out of the woods to our left. Zelda stopped in front of him and slapped him across the face – hard.

"Ow, what the heck Zel –" He started to demand but was cut off by the queen herself who had grabbed his shirt.

Shaking him she demanded, "Get out of his body now, you'll screw up this entire timeline!"

"I'm the Hero of Time," Link replied in a 'duh' kind of voice. "The timeline will be fine, I have experience with these kind of things." He winked at her and she smiled a little despite herself. "Besides," he continued, face turning grim as he turned towards Ganon. "This one can't handle _him_ yet; we need to do something."

"_We_ don't need to do anything," Zelda told him, gaining his full attention once more.

"If he dies that could be it for everything we have tried to protect for all of these years," Link countered. "He's like a son, I can't let him die because I wasn't strong enough to finish Ganondorf at the time…"

"Don't talk to me about time," she snapped.

Frustrated by the conversation that I had long ago given up trying to figure out, I turned to Ganondorf, prepared to shoot him down with a bolt of magic. He looked bemused. His eyes met mine and a wicked grin crept over his face. He sauntered forward while Link and Zelda were distracted arguing.

"You're coming with me," he hissed, grabbing my wrist.

"Let her go!" Link shouted, finally pulled out of his conversation with Zelda. What was wrong with him? Since when did he get distracted? Maybe a better question would be, since when did Zelda distract him?

"Way to go, O mighty Hero of Time," Zelda remarked sarcastically, stepping back. She reached behind her expecting something to be there that wasn't. "Nayru! Why doesn't she have a bow with her?"

"Link!" I screamed, desperately trying to get his attention. I couldn't summon any magic – Ganon must have something on to restrain me. Darn it! "Let me go!" I demanded, struggling.

"Midna?" Link asked blankly, hesitating. He shook his head and dropped to his knees, nails digging into the dirt. "Sh- I'm loosing him!" Zelda rolled her eyes and took a step back. Both of their Triforces flared and suddenly, after the Triforces dimmed, they both looked confused.

"I don't have time for this," Ganondorf muttered. He started making signs in the dirt with a wave of his hand and I recognized the designs as Twili. He finished the last symbol and mumbled an incantation – a transportation spell, I realized too late.

"Ah, my dear Twilight Princess," he purred. "You have some explaining to do." With these words and a flash of light we were whisked away from Faron woods, but I lost my mind to the darkness before his spell could finish.

I was no longer in Faron Woods when Link finally rose from the ground, head pounding. I wasn't there when he turned to Zelda confused. I wasn't present when he started to call my name in panic. Certainly I wasn't there when he found the person who looked like me. Nor was I around when he accepted Ganon's minion's story about fending off the dark lord. I wasn't there, not really, the one with Link now was just a clone – one of Ganon's shadow lackeys. Not to mention I'm nearly positive that I'm still unconscious.

I could see and hear it all though, through Link's eyes and ears. His gaze fell on the look-alike and I felt a strange pang of guilt and confusion. I drifted into a deeper and darker part of my mind, desperately trying to block out his emotions.

My connection with Link, through the Triforce, was strong indeed.


	7. Betrayal

_Chapter Six: Betrayal_

Where am I?

What happened?

Groggily, I opened my eyes. My whole body ached as if I had been in a wrestling game with Gorons and lost… badly. Nothing came into focus right away, and I felt the blood rush to my head, impairing my sight further. I tried to move my hand and rub my pounding head only to find my arms tied behind my back. A similar result was received when I attempted to stand. I blinked hard, my vision finally coming into focus.

I nearly laughed, unthinkable as that is. I was in a prison cell, obviously, but it looked _exactly_ like the cage I rescued Link from so long ago. Weak bars, chained by my ankle to a peg in the middle of the floor, everything was so nostalgic. _Now if only that mangy wolf was here with me,_ I thought, my momentary good humor vanishing in a heartbeat.

I continued to examine my surroundings, beyond the cage itself. Thick stonewalls stood on every side, except for directly in front of me. There lay a blanket of darkness. There was no telling how far it extended or where it led to from within my prison. It seemed like I was in a corridor; there were no walls outside of the cage, just an empty space. The only light source was a torch, outside of my cage and likely embedded into the stone, as I could not see it from where I stood – no windows. I swallowed nervously as I watched the shadows dance in time with the flickering flame. The walls seemed to close in on me.

"Dum dum… da da… da da…"

I cocked my head to the side, curious. It sounded like someone was humming ballroom music. Who would be humming in this goddess-forsaken place?

"Hello?" I called timidly, not wanting to alert any guards to my presence if I could help it.

"Why, hello there," a musical voice replied. I turned towards the source of the sound, noticing for the first time the cage next to mine. "Glad to see you're awake; I wanted to speak with you before Ganondorf returned," he continued. Slowly, he emerged from the shadows.

His face was clearly Hylian. Long, pointed ears, narrow chin, high check bones. He wore a large, black cloak with gold stitching over his shoulders, which covered his entire frame. He smiled gently at me and bowed low, his clean-looking, raven-wing colored hair falling in his face. He offered a tanned hand through the bars of the cage. I grasped it, more curious as to whether or not it was real than actually not wanting to be rude.

"My name is Riken, but I am quite certain that doesn't matter much to you at this moment," he continued in his same singsong voice. I frowned, mistrusting. He was far too happy for someone trapped in a cage. Then again, judging by his clean appearance it was possible that he was one of Ganon's lackeys. Did he even use minions who looked like Hylian nobles? I certainly hadn't seen any on my previous adventures with Link.

"Look I don't have time for this!" I snapped at the strange Hylian.

He grinned at me, as if he were expecting as much. "You're friends are fine, as are you. I don't think you have much to worry about except keeping it that way. Ganondorf will be coming soon, but I thought I'd help you out a bit before then."

"Unless you can free me from this prison, I doubt you can really help me much," I hissed. He smiled sadly.

"Unfortunately I cannot do that, but I can help you find your own way out," his attention turned away from me as he looked beyond our prisons to the darkness. Frowning, he continued, "Out of time, so soon. Your hand, just focus okay?" I heard loud footsteps padding towards me and I looked away from the strange man for a brief moment before turning back only to find him gone. In fact a stone wall stood where there had once been prison bars. Shaking my head I turned back to the sound of approach.

"Ah, so the princess has awakened," an all too familiar voice purred from outside of the cage, somewhere in the darkness. "I thought you'd be out for a while longer but it seems I was mistaken."

"Ganon. What do you want, you pig?" I growled. The dark sorcerer stepped out of the darkness, smirking at my previous remark. I glanced around, desperately wishing for a stone to chuck at him.

"Now, now, Twilight Princess, you should show me respect considering you're now _my_ prisoner," he replied with a sly smile.

"Sadistic son of a bokoblin!" I spat at his feet, nose flared and prepared to do anything and everything in my power to make his life as miserable as possible. He frowned a little, but other than that showed no reaction.

"I ought to give you a history lesson while you're in my stockades, but I think that this is neither the time nor the place. Aside from that we have more pressing business to attend to," Ganondorf spoke in a controlled tone and glanced down at my hand. The Triforce, I realized immediately. I looked at my hand in a panic, but was relieved to find it still there.

"Couldn't get your precious Power piece back, could you?" I questioned wryly. He snorted once without humor.

"Hardly," he spoke with venom in his voice. "I just figured it'd be more fun to torture while you're awake rather than dreaming about your hero." I flung another flurry of insults at him. He growled, flinging the cage door open and slapping me across the face with such force and speed that I fell to the ground with a cry of pain and surprise. I spat out a mouthful of blood from the split lip I had just received, courtesy of Ganon.

"Monster, do you have no shame? No pride?" I questioned, defiantly standing once more.

"Trust me, dear princess," he replied, grabbing my chin and forcing me to look at him. "This is only about pride." With that he released me and I fell to the ground once more. "However, I am not the one under question here. I'll give you two options, Princess. Give me the Triforce right here, right now, willingly or I take it from you forcefully. In my infinite patience and mercy, I'll even allow you an hour to think things over." He said the last part with mock sincerity.

"If you honestly think I'll just hand the Triforce over to you, you've got another thing coming," I informed him.

He barked a laugh and turned to face me. "Oh but Midna, you have yet to see how truly _mad_ a piece of the Triforce can drive a person. You'll come around sooner or later, and I have all the time in the world." He turned and walked out of the cage, locking me in once more.

I steeled my gaze and looked him right in the eye. He was insane, truly _insane_. There was no limit as to what he would do to get back what he believed to be rightfully his. For all of that though, the question wasn't as he put it: Giving up the Triforce willingly or not. The question is, which of us is more insane? With a grin on my face that far outdid any wicked smile I had conjured in my imp form, I knew the answer.

_Just try me Ganon._

He looked over his shoulder to glare at me once more, as if though he heard my cocky thought, before slinking back into the darkness, leaving me alone again.

* * *

A boy clad in a green tunic, a young woman dressed in a clearly royal, but still simplistic traveling dress, and another young woman, this one with pale-blue skin and fiery orange hair, walked side by side towards a small village. The young blonde lad broke the silence that had settled over them.

"Midna, are you sure you're all right?" He asked, his tone infused with concern. "You've been acting a little weird since Ganon reared his ugly head." The boy mentioned the dark lord with a subconscious spite.

"I'm fine, Link," the young lady with bright crimson eyes purred. Zelda fell behind a little and frowned to herself. She agreed with Link, something wasn't right, but what was _wrong?_ A small voice in the back of her mind cried out in warning, a voice she had long ago learned to trust, but she couldn't do much without some kind of proof. Even if Link was suspicious, she knew he would defend Midna to the last, and getting everyone worked up could lead to rash action. What's worse is it could lead to more pointless destruction.

So the three walked on. Zelda and Link both lost to their own thoughts while Midna smiled smugly, keeping a steady pace.

* * *

"Knock, knock," a voice called from within the shadows just beyond my cage.

"Screw you," I replied. Ganondorf appeared with a frown on his face. Good. I spat at his feet in further greeting.

"If you were wise you'd stop drying yourself out like that, as you won't be getting any food or water for the duration of your stay here at my humble abode," he replied with a tone of mock wisdom. His features twisted in a scowl, preparing for the so-called torture session. I was ready for him though. My choice had been made long ago, before he left me for my last hour of peace. Instead I had used the time granted to me to prepare for any pain he planned to inflict.

I glanced at the shadows, longingly, for a brief moment. I had already tried to transfer myself into the shadows, but to no avail. Whatever enchantment he had put on me earlier remained. Curse him! I pulled at my chains once more and received the same response I had been getting all hour. _Rattle._ No give.

"Now then, obviously, I don't have time to sit here for hours on end, but that doesn't mean you'll be free from pain. Ah, but I'm getting ahead of myself," he explained with a light dancing in his eyes. Sadistic psycho. He opened the door to my cage and stepped in, closing the door behind him. "So what will it be, Twilight Princess?"

"What do you think urine breath?"

He snarled once and slapped me, sending me into the nearest wall. "Very well," he growled. He took a deep breath and regained his composure. "Let's talk then, shall we?" He waited for a response that he wasn't going to receive before continuing. "Do you miss your home at all, Princess? Perhaps you forgot what, or should I say… _who_ you left your people with." My heart lurched in my chest at this comment… he couldn't possibly know…

"Oh trust me, Princess, I know much more than you could ever imagine," Ganon continued as if he could read my thoughts. Then again, maybe I was just giving myself away. I tried to relax my jaw muscles and remove the panic from my eyes with little success. "I heard you were the one to deliver the final blow to my loyal acolyte, but just think of my shock when I found out that you revived him!" He chuckled softly, running a clawed finger along my arm, before continuing. "To kill is one thing, dear Twilight Princess, but to revive an enemy out of… what? Why did you revive your traitorous subject?" He leaned in closer to me, gripping my jaw so hard that it began to ache.

"Do you think you can break me by making me feel _guilty?_" I laughed once without humor. "You have much to learn Ganon. My people are the masters of pain. We've been suffering for thousands of years."

"Ah, ah, but you are avoiding my question," he reprimanded me with a sickening gentleness. "Was it out of desperation, perhaps?" I winced at the assumption that was all too close to the truth. "No need to answer now; I can see it in your eyes. Though I do still wonder _why._" I squeezed my eyes shut to block out his sinister voice and my mind drifted back in time…

Why, indeed?

* * *

I wiped my hands against the heavy cloak I wore nervously. Today was the day. I had been debating on whether or not to go through with this for weeks, but it all came down to _him._ Nearly a year had passed and I was barely holding myself together in front of my advisors, let alone in my private chambers after the rest of the palace falls into slumber. Every night I sat awake, not wishing to dream about _him_ in fear of making the pain worse, so instead I reminisced about our time together. There was the one moment I never thought about, locked away so deep in my memory I wasn't sure I could recall it anymore. Not that I would ever dare try.

More than once I had caught myself speaking out loud, as if though _he_ was sitting just across from me.

If I didn't find a way to stop this, I would surely become a victim of my own mind. Then what would my people do? They'd already lost me once and suffered under a madman's rule, what if they had to go through both again? All of the sacrifices _he _and I made would be for naught.

It was under this train of thought that the idea first came to me.

Zant was a powerful magic-wielder, of that there is no doubt. In fact, he was powerful enough to open multiple portals between our world and theirs – something unheard of before his reign. How did he do it though? Did he use the power of the Mirror of Twilight and simply expand it, or was it possible he found another way? One no one else had thought of?

Of course, with Zant no more than a pile of ashes sitting above my hearth, there really was no way to ask him personally – at least not unless I was truly insane and started holding conversations with the dead usurper. _Who knows, maybe he'd actually reply_, I thought grimly.

What if there was another way though? Maybe I didn't need to be insane to communicate with him. Well, not totally insane at least. The Twili had developed complex revival rituals for those who died young and unjustly, all in an attempt to vindicate the goddesses' judgments on us. Naturally, only a powerful being could perform any of these rituals, but with the royal blood coursing through my veins I felt confident I could do it.

But did I really want to do it?

As much as it pained me I had to ask myself: What would Link think about this? I winced as I thought his name; I had been trying to avoid using it.

He would think I was already insane, that much is sure. We fought so long and hard all for the purpose of defeating Zant and Ganondorf. Reviving one was nearly as bad as reviving the other. _If_ I was successful, he would ask how I managed to return, and of course I would tell him the truth. What would he think of me then? He would be shocked, hurt, and maybe even confused. I was a bit confused myself.

Why did I feel like I _needed_ him _so_ bad?

Living through this nightmarish year of recovery had been like living without oxygen. I never felt like I could breath. At first I just chalked it up to getting used to the stiff duty of ruling my people again, but, as time went on, it only got harder. The longer I was away from him, the more the pain choked me Like a snake wrapped around its prey, it was only a matter of time before the pain finished me off.

I had no choice. At one point I did, but I shattered that opportunity recklessly.

So, less than a week away from the year mark, I smuggled Zant's ashes into a secluded room, deep within the palace. The following day I returned to the room, steady in my resolve. When guards and advisors gave me a quirked eyebrow and a puzzled frown I simply ignored them and continued to walk swiftly down the corridors. There happened to be two guards walking casually away from my destination, whether or not this was a sign, I choose not to ponder.

"You two," I snapped, catching their attention.

"Yes, Milady?" The Twili inquired in unison.

"I need you two to guard this door and whatever you may witness, you mustn't speak a word of it to anyone, not even your loved ones, understood?" They both stood up a little straighter and saluted, which I took for a sign of agreement. They took up their positions in front of the door once more, and patiently waited for further orders.

The room was small, but it would do. I took a deep breath before approaching the ashes.

Goddesses forgive me. I only do this for you Link. We fought for everyone else's happy endings, now its time to fight for our own.

The revival process was lengthy, more so than I would've liked. Then, when Zant started questioning me, I was unable to keep myself composed. I cursed myself for lack of control and went outside to give orders to the guards, who were looking rather frightened.

"Princess was that –," one stuttered, though he dare not say what he thought. The other one looked rather pale, even for a Twili.

"You swore to never mention this, I trust you can keep to that vow?" I demanded, ice on my tongue. "If he gets too restless give him this." Handing over the sedations I took off towards my royal chambers, my wary body demanding rest from the ritual.

Just outside of my chambers I heard it. Laughter, mad laughter, coming from the direction I had just left. The guards would knock him out with the drugs I gave them soon, but not soon enough. The laughter had reached my ears and I heard Zant's message loud and clear. He knew how to make me dance, and he knew how to earn favors. He knew why I revived him, and I knew I was no longer in control of the situation – just like last time.

With a bowed head, I returned to my chambers, several more tears escaping before the door closed shut.

* * *

"Bite me," I replied to Ganon after a short pause, the memories of resurrecting Zant fresh in my mind.

He sighed loudly, in a showy fashion. I bet he loved to play the puppet master. "This won't do at all Midna, I need my Triforce not your guilt." He paused, looking closely at me. "I am no fool, Twilight Princess. Zant told me much of your fiery personality, and I know that you will not be handing over _my_ Triforce without getting something in return. So what would you say if I could take all of your pain away?" He leaned in close enough that I felt his hot breath billowing across my neck. I shuddered as I felt his hot, sticky tongue glide over my exposed skin.

"I would say: get a life, you festering waste of flesh," I replied calmly, refusing to give him anything to cling to.

His fist collided with my stomach and my breath left me with a _huff_. "You wretched wench, do you understand that I'm doing you a favor? The last thing you want is the Triforce forcibly removed."

"And why haven't you forced it from me yet Ganon?" I inquired, determined to put him on the defensive. His face went blank and he stared into space, a haunted look entering his eyes. For a moment I wonder what he was thinking about so intently.

With a fire burning in his eyes, he snapped back to the present and responded, "I owe someone a favor to you, not that you deserve it." Who knew, Ganon actually _kept_ promises, but then again, judging by the look in his eyes, maybe he doesn't have a choice in keeping this one. I was about to question him further, but he got another far-off look in his eyes for a brief moment before roaring out in anger.

"Din! Now what?" He turned on his heel, slamming the prison door shut behind him. Something must've gone wrong somewhere, if his tone and hurried footsteps were anything to go by.

Not even a minute later I heard more footsteps approaching, but this time I could tell it wasn't Ganon. These steps were light and careful like a rogue about to commit a theft. My face and stomach still aching from Ganon's abuse, I rose wearily to my feet.

"Hail," the figure draped in shadows called to me. "I've come here on orders, it would be wise not to resist." So he wanted to play it like that then. I'll show him what would be wise. He emerged from the shadows, but that didn't help me identify him. He wore a black cloak and hood that covered all of his features. In fact, if not for his speaking I wouldn't even have been able to tell if he was in fact male or female.

"Approach me and you may regret it," I warned, my voice filled with hate. He didn't heed my words and stepped into the too-small cage. Grabbing me roughly by the throat he lifted me off the ground with a strange calm in his eyes. Almost as if though he was under another's control and had no mind of his own. He removed a small gold coin from a pocket on his belt and pressed it against my forehead.

"This will be your entertainment until Master Ganondorf graces you with his presence again," the strange guard told me in a monotone. "The coin, or rather the spell on it, will be the mental part of your torture. For, surely, you know there are two parts to any good torture session. Master will provide the physical part himself." Even during the slight taunt on my knowledge of torture his voice remained bleak, unchanging. "Have a good sleep, Twilight Princess."

* * *

For the second time that day, I awoke groggy and out of touch. At least I think today was the same as the first day. My head started to throb at the possible conundrum, so I gave up on it for now. The important thing wasn't _when_, but rather _where._ I opened my eyes only to find more darkness.

Where am I? I wondered absentmindedly

_My mind, well, yours and mine for the time being,_ a sinister voice replied. I felt shock radiate through out my body, though I could not feel my body itself.

Don't riddle me. Just tell me straight. All of this seemed far too familiar just like…

_Just like when the Princess Zelda shared your mind._

I tried to growl at the voice, but whether or not I succeeded in producing any sound I did not know.

_It is similar, I will admit, but unlike then you are the one sharing my mind. Allow me to… shed some light on the situation. _Suddenly, I could see. My vision was a little blurry, like I had just woken up. I saw a hand reach up to wipe the sleep away, but the feeling wasn't right and I knew why.

I wasn't controlling the hand. For that matter, I wasn't controlling anything. All I could do was watch and speak silently to the strange voice. Is this how Zelda felt when she was in my mind? I made a mental note to apologize later if that was indeed the case. It was uncomfortable without a body, far worse than being in shadow form. Right now I was totally insubstantial. Link wouldn't be able to see me.

My attention was drawn from my thoughts as I, or rather, we, started moving forward. The place wasn't one I recognized immediately, but it felt familiar. I was certain I had been here before, but where exactly was here at? It looked like a house of some sort, though a simple one at best. There was a fire in a hearth on one side and a table in front of it. My host body looked right and I saw a hole in the floor that seemed to lead to nowhere. We turned left and faced a small ladder and something flickered in my memory.

Riding on the back of a wild beast, freshly tamed and ready for action. We raced down a dirt path. I required weaponry before I allowed the monster to go sniffing after his lost friends. We stopped before we reached the village and the no-good mutt helped another flea-bitten friend who was sitting at the top of a ladder…

No.

_Oh, yes._

Then I saw him, lying in bed, sleeping peacefully while this stranger loomed over him. What was wrong with him? Why didn't he sense someone was there? He was never caught off guard like _this!_

Link!

_Its no use, he can't hear you. You see, Twilight Princess, this – _A hand swept across my field of vision gesturing to the small living quarters as a whole – _is your nightmare. _The person walked over to the hearth, causing Link to leave my field of vision once more.

He would never trust one of Ganon's minions. You are all fools if you think he would.

The stranger picked up a mirror from the table and held it up so I could see its face. _He would never trust us, no, but he would certainly trust you. _I screamed out in horror as my face was reflected in the glass.

_I am a professional in these things, you see. I have done work like this for Ganon for many, many years. A long time ago I was used as a ploy to lower noblemen's defenses, so that my King, Ganondorf, could take over. Seduction is my game, and this will be my most exciting one yet. Take the Hero of Twilight into my arms, let him feel the warmth you were so afraid to give him. And just when he thinks everything is all right…_

Stop! I screamed in my head. The images that came like flashes of lightening as she spoke left me shaken, wishing for some way to take control of those hands just long enough to kill myself. Stop! I commanded again, though she had long ago fallen silent.

We walked back to where Link was sleeping. I saw her hand reach for him, and just as I was about to warn her not to hurt him, she caressed his cheek.

_You see Midna, I don't kill most of my victims. Typically I leave that up to Lord Ganondorf. My job is simply to tear away the threads of the trust you two share. More importantly to shatter the inconceivable love you hold for him. You are royalty, Twilight Princess, its time to start realizing that. The real fun will start tomorrow, for now though I must retire. Good night._

I yelled at her to wait, but she either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me. Within minutes I was back in the darkness, sleeping while my conscious was still waking. Hopefully Ganon would wrap up whatever duties called him away quickly – physical torture was much more preferred compared to this never-ending nightmare.

* * *

Ganon was right, I knew a lot about torture. I oversaw sessions of it everyday before Zant took the throne. Naturally, this was all in secret, if word got out that the princess was torturing her people there could be an uprising or worse – I'd have to stop the sessions. The first time I did it was during a small war between our people. Normally, being that we are all banished by the goddesses, Twili don't fight, but they have been known to find reason in the past.

So, one day a prisoner of war was brought in and I was told to oversee his torture. At first I objected, refusing to stoop to such violent levels, but then the first day arrived and by the end of it I was a different person. The torture was a thrill – a rush like none other! Hearing his dieing screams as I ran a blade along his spine, but slowly, oh very, very slowly. When I tired of the screams, I wanted to cut his tongue out, but was reminded that we needed him to talk first.

And talk he did. After the war was over and peace reigned once more, he congratulated me on my well-done torture. I replied, "my pleasure." Then he laughed nervously and backed away, slowly but not as slow as the knife. Nothing was slower than my torture sessions, or so I had thought.

Ganondorf was beating me at my own game. This torture seemed endless. Sitting or lying or whatever it is consciences do when they are active, I waited for hours that felt like days. I wondered, briefly, if this was vindication for all of the times I tortured innocent Twili. Some divine reparation to teach me the wrong in my ways, but no that couldn't be.

Link. He had taught me to end the merciless and unnecessary pain. He taught me to love life and respect it. And, goddesses, I miss him.

Suddenly, yet distantly, I heard a door slam open. Then I was pulled from the darkness and my limbs became my own once more. The guard who removed the coin was working quickly to chain me against the wall, spread-eagle facing the cage door, through magic binds. I wondered, fleetingly, why he was in such a rush. I received my answer moments after the lackey scurried out of my cell.

"Good morning, Princess," Ganon sneered. "Ready for round two?" I simply glared back at him. Seeing no change of heart in me he drew a long, thin blade. He spun it once in a showy fashion and ran a finger along the blunt side. Suddenly he gripped my wrist and pressed the tip of the blade against the peak of the Triforce mark. Slowly, so slowly, he ran the blade along the outline of the mark.

"I still think your methods are most laughable, Swine," I informed him, holding my head high. He responded by flipping my hand over and jabbing the blade through the center of my palm. He released my hand, with the blade suspended in it, and drew another long, thin dagger similar to the first. Repeating the process on my right hand, he smiled.

"Do you enjoy pain enough to appreciate it while you're the one suffering?" Ganon wondered out loud. "That's how I am. When your _hero_" —he said the word with unthinking hate— "butchered me with the Master Sword, I couldn't help but marvel at the pain involved. Truly evil's bane, that sword. If only I could wield it… I bet it would burn you alive."

He pulled out two more daggers, bigger than the ones used on my hands, and started feeling along my upper arm. It almost felt like he was giving me a massage, but he was pressing against my flesh too hard. Looking for the joint that joined my shoulder and arm, I realized too late. Before forcing the blades between my bones, he took time to carefully draw complex designs along my arms. I noticed with a wince and a frown that the patterns were a mock version of the Twili symbols etched on my skin. Finally he finished his artistic work and carefully stuck the blades in my skin; first he pierced the left side and then the right—the same order as my hands. I shivered as blood from the new patterns and wounds started to stream from my arm and echo dully on the stone floor beneath my feet.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

At his climax now, he drew a sword and ran its keen edge along the seams of my traveling shirt, loaned out to me before Link, Zelda and I had left Hyrule Castle, and tore it off.

"Sick," I commented feeling a chill run along my exposed flesh, but then again I guess that was the whole point. With practiced movements, he ran the sword along my legs, prodding my feet and cutting open my inner thighs, before pausing with the tip of the blade resting against my naval. His eyes glimmered briefly from some thought I was sure I didn't want to hear and stuck the smooth blade—carefully—in my stomach. I grunted in pain and ground my teeth together, fighting the urge to cry out. He inserted the blade so that it wouldn't kill me, just make me bleed.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Leaving the swords in my hands, arms and stomach Ganondorf took a step back to admire his work. With a smirk he left, releasing me from the magical binds and closing the gate behind him. I reached out with a shaky hand to remove the blade from my stomach, but I was so lightheaded from the blood-loss I saw multiple blades and didn't know which was the real one. Cursing, I lifted my hands up to my eyes to rub them only to recall, again, the blades he left in my palms.

Before I had adequate time to find a way to remove the blades I heard footsteps, signaling an approach. The same mysterious guard who put the spell-coin on me and spell-tied me for torture earlier walked up to me.

"Don't touch me," I told him fearlessly, my voice sounding frustratingly small and insignificant. Ignoring my warning, he placed the coin on my head and once again I was lost to the darkness.

* * *

_Welcome back._

I didn't respond, instead I started looking for Link.

I thought I heard a sigh before the strange woman in my body responded. _He's fine. In fact he's been pretty friendly lately. _She was at Ordon Spring; Link was floating in the deeper part of the pool, looking like he was sleeping. _He's so cute, wouldn't you agree?_

I wanted to curse her and demand that she stay away from Link, but I couldn't take my focus off the scene. Had I not been kidnapped, I could be there – the real me – waiting with Link for a sign of Ganondorf.

Something pricked at the back of my mind and I realized someone was missing. Where's Zelda?

_The Light princess? She left a few days ago, to Kakiriko, or something like that. Looking for survivors. It turned out that the villagers here knew of Castle Town's attack and had gotten an invitation to join the survivors in Kakiriko, for their own safety. The big guy here – what's his name?_

Bo. The mayor.

_Yeah, whatever, so he told everyone they were staying here. Something about the village being safer than any other place._

That made sense because, like last time, Ordon village remained virtually untouched. Maybe it had to do with Link and his being raised there. The goddesses, in exchange for watching over their hero while he grew up, protected this village above all the rest.

_And grow up he did_, the voice of the seducer commented as Link approached her. I felt the sensation of standing up. Link smiled at the false-me and offered an arm. Though I couldn't see her face I knew that the impersonator smiled and took his arm by the echo of feeling in our mind. They walked, side by side, down the path that led back to the village. Just before they reached the clearing and Link's house I felt her stop.

What are you doing?

_Oh nothing_. She rested her hands on Link's chest, leaned in and kissed him, yet I couldn't feel him. I could hear every sound and feel the air on our skin, but I couldn't feel Link – like he isn't even there.

_This is torture. You didn't think we're that stupid, did you? I guess I could describe it for you though…_

No.

_His lips are so soft, but his hands are so rough. And warm. He's very, very warm. Also quite strong, I can tell running my hand along his back. Mmm, so gentle and sweet. That's something I haven't felt in a long time. Most men I had to go after were cruel, with a hateful heart, but this one…_

I tired to drown out her voice, I tried to scream, but I couldn't.

_Hmm I wonder…_

The slight change of tone caught my attention. I felt her had run down Link's side, to his waist. Then she tugged, just a little, at his pants, and…

He immediately stopped, breaking the kiss and backing away from her. I breathed a sigh of relief. I knew that if I had to witness _that_…I know what my limits are, and that is far outside of my range.

_Interesting, I think that in itself is a first._

That's my wolf, I thought with a smile—at least mentally. Even if you capture me and break me into a thousand pieces, you will never be able to touch him. He's the chosen hero for a reason.

_Nonsense, he may be a hero, but he is still a man. It's only a matter of time._

Her threat left me with a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach, but I ignored it. Even if she could get him to do it, what difference did it make? Not like it would kill him.

_It wouldn't—he may even enjoy it, but keep in mind its not him we're after._

Do your worse.

* * *

A few hours of watching Link and Ganon's minion left me with a bitter taste in my mouth, but it was nothing compared to the pain I felt upon awakening again. My body was stiff from staying still for so long, but what's worse is the blood had clotted around the blades, keeping them firmly in place. Every shift of weight and tiny change in position re-opened the recently closed wounds, so that when I moved I felt a thousand daggers tear through me rather than five. Tears formed in my eyes and I tried to blink them back.

My head pulsed with a deafening headache as I observed my surroundings. The guard was nowhere to be seen, but Ganondorf towered over me, tapping his foot ever so slightly. Just as I was starting to stand up Ganon became impatient and jerked me into a standing position causing pain to roar through me like a storm. He gripped the blade in my stomach and yanked it out with a grunt of effort causing fresh blood to pour from the gapping hole.

"I hate you," I told him through clenched teeth.

"As well you should," he replied smugly. "You can stop the pain anytime you want – it's all up to you," he reminded me.

"I'd rather die than surrender to you."

So the torture began anew. He dipped the same blades he originally used in a vat of what I could only hope wasn't poison. Whatever it was, it burned. A lot. Something similar to rubbing acid-coated salt on a paper cut. I squirmed, desperately trying to ignore the pain. Then he took my Triforce hand and started to cast a spell. Just as I was about to ask what he was doing, he held his fisted-hand level with the Triforce on my hand and pulled back a little. Almost as if he was pulling on an invisible rope attached to my hand, but there was nothing visible to me except air.

He tugged a little more, and I felt my hand jerk towards him. I swallowed nervously, and tried to yank my hand back only to meet resistance, like there was an invisible force pulling my hand forward without give.

Then Ganondorf jerked his hand back with a grunt, placing his other hand on my shoulder, using it like leverage.

And I screamed.

Light flared out from my hand, quickly drowning out my previous pain from the swords still jutting out of my skin. I thrashed wildly, screaming curses to the goddesses as I did. What kind of demented goddess would create such pain?

"Din!" I screamed. Ganon laughed and pulled harder.

"Do you still want the Triforce? Do you still believe it a force of good or evil based on who wields it?" He cackled maniacally. "Welcome to the power that drove me to insanity!"

This went on for hours. And hours. And hours. Until, at last, he left. Unlike the last session, I didn't even have the energy to attempt removing the blades. When the dark-cloaked guard returned, I couldn't put up a fight. And I hated every moment of it.

Knowing I was moments from blacking out and returning to the mental torture, I couldn't help but wonder: how long can I last like this?

* * *

The answer came several weeks later.

Whatever stinging, stinking gunk Ganon was coating my blades in, seeped into my skin and sapped my strength. There were no other effects, that I noticed, thankfully. He continued to tug at the Triforce and warn me that actually removing it would be far worse. I could handle the pain though. After breaching my pain threshold the first time, the pulling didn't hurt as much any more.

The worst part—the part that was wearing me down faster than expected – was watching the imposter flirt with Link, or, worse, Link flirt with her. I tried to shut them out. Stop listening or seeing, hoping for both my hearing and sight to fail, but it just didn't work. While I wasting time trying to stop the torture, Link was falling in deeper with the false woman. It was only a matter of time before something broke the tedious balance I was maintaining between the physical and mental tortures.

I waited patiently for Ganon to finish his torture. He had been tugging a little harder recently, and I couldn't help but wonder why. It wasn't enough to remove it, but certainly enough to feel a difference. Was he testing something? Maybe he was preparing to forcibly remove the Triforce if I continued to deny him his power? I didn't bother asking, knowing I would receive no answer, as I watched Ganon leave and the guard slip in.

Without a word he placed the coin on (or possibly in, I could never really tell, as blurry as everything had gotten over time) my head.

_Good evening, Princess. You're just in time; I do believe we are at our climax._

Climax? I questioned wearily. Observing my—our—surroundings I understood what she meant. We were in Link's house, lounging in front of the fire, snuggled against Link. While I was sure it must've been incredibly warm, I, of course, could feel nothing. Like freezing in the desert.

Stay away from him, I commanded half-heartedly. I had long ago given up trying to convince her to keep her distance.

_Well now that you're here, I'll begin the show. Enjoy tonight, I'm dedicating my performance to you!_

You're really sick you know that?

_Of course! Anyways, sorry if I don't respond to some of your thoughts tonight; I'll be a bit busy._

The tone of her thoughts made me shudder in revulsion—not an easy thing considering I was currently no more than a stream of consciousness. I felt our hand shift to the side and grasp something. We looked down at our hand that was now intertwined with Link's. I felt the shy smile seep across her face as our eyes met his crystal-blue eyes.

"Link," she whispered leaning closer. I was slightly surprised to hear her actually speak—her voice was just like mine. In all of my time roosting in this conscience I had yet to hear anything outside of the mind speak. Disappointment filled me when Link started to talk, but I couldn't hear what he was saying. Fortunately, the ever-considerate seducer let his words echo through her mind for me to hear.

_Midna… I…_

I tried to shake my head in denial, a reflex action. The imposter leaned closer to Link, prepared to seal the deal, when he spoke again—something she was not expecting, judging by her slight surprise and stiff halt.

_I need to tell… Ever since… It's just that…_

"There's no need, darling. This is no time for talk," she purred. An all too familiar feeling of disgust rose up inside me.

_No, I need to say this… I don't want to…_

"Just say it," she whispered gently.

_Midna… I… love you._

"I know."

With that she closed the distance between them and immediately began her so-called work. The kiss grew deeper, sweet at first, but the imposter soon changed that. Our hands, pressed against his chest, slid down his slim torso and under his tunic. We pulled it off and flung it to the side with his help. I noticed vaguely when we pressed him flush against the ground, but was preoccupied with our hands that were now working at removing his trousers.

All the while he whispered my name. Thinking he had just confessed his love to me. And now he was about to make love to someone he believed to be me. In some distant corner of my mind, I wondered if this was his first time. Probably, considering how clumsy his hands were as they tugged off our dress.

He wrapped his arms around our waist—I only knew from an indistinct weight there—and gently rolled us so that he was on top, staring down triumphantly.

Link… Link… please stop, I begged, knowing full well he couldn't hear me.

"Take me," the imposter pleaded. All too willing to oblige, Link prepared to do just that when…

"Link! Stop!" I screamed, but it was different this time. My voice was on the outside.

"You stupid wench!" the imposter shrieked. Link quickly jumped up and backed away, reaching for his sword. I had trained my dog well after all. With his left hand filled with the goddesses' light Link pointed the sword towards the imposter's throat.

"You aren't Midna," he stated without emotion. The professional seducer panicked briefly, wondering what to do. After a never-ending moment, she slowly raised her hands in the air as a sign of surrender. I cried out in joy. This torture would stop now, and it was only a matter of time before Link rescued me from this place now that he knew I was missing. I could put up with Ganon's physical torture easily now, simply by knowing he would come soon.

I wanted to wait and see what happened next, but I was suddenly ripped away from this conscience and back into my own.

* * *

I gasped as I was pulled into my own mind, and nearly jumped back when I saw Ganondorf's face mere inches from mine.

"You had better pray to Din you didn't do what I think you did," he growled. I was confused, truth be told. What was he talking about? And why is he so angry? He's almost always eerily calm during periods of torture. "I'm taking the Triforce _now_. My debt to that scum is well paid!"

He grabbed me by my neck and jerked me up roughly with one hand, while magically grabbing the Triforce with the other. All of those times he told me the pain would be so much worse upon actually removing it, I never really believed him. Now I did.

Daggers coated in poison. Mauled by a rabid bear. Run through on the end of the Master Sword. Hyrule Castle roof collapsing on top of me. None of it was very bad compared to this. In fact it would be nice to get trampled by a horse after stabbing myself, or maybe cutting out my own heart. Anything would be better than this. Anything.

My body was beyond screaming. I had dehydrated long ago, as Ganon had predicted, and this fresh pain amplified that ten fold. In fact, it amplified every injury I had sustained—magnified it. All I could force from my throat was a choked sobbing sound, though my eyes ran dry.

Ganondorf clutched my neck tighter and questioned me. "How does it feel? Can you appreciate this pain, ungrateful witch?"

Oh, yes, I could appreciate this pain. This was the kind of pain people _worshipped_. Nayru, Farore, and Din! Make it stop! I didn't want this stupid power of yours in the first place.

Ganon jerked at the Triforce even more breaking my prayer. "Give it up! Surrender to me! You can still earn your freedom, just say it!" He struggled to calm his voice ever so slightly.

"Say what?" I mouthed, though I knew the answer already. All I had to do was give up the power of the Triforce and he would remove it, other wise who knew how long this pain would last. I would be free to go. I could go back to Link, regroup and plan our next move together. Live to fight another day. Finally, the pain broke through my dry throat.

I screamed as loud as I could, louder than I even thought possible. Not the kind of scream you would think to come from a princess's lips. This was no oh-hero-come-save-me-I've-been-captured scream. This was a goddesses-kill-me-now scream. And it echoed, over and over again.

"Give… it… to… me…!" Ganon demanded, grunting in effort. I couldn't take it anymore. If I stayed here, refusing to give up the Triforce, he would give up trying to take it for a time. Just long enough to find out that his mental torture failed, and then just enough time to hunt Link down and devastate Hyrule along the way. All to put pressure on me, knowing very well I wouldn't stand to have innocent lives on my head. I could stop him now, though. Reunite with Link and prepare Hyrule to fight again. After all, Link had fought Ganondorf while he was in possession of the Triforce of Power before.

And…

I was sure of it. The way I came—the 'how' of my return to the Light Realm. The power of the Triforce assisted me. I was told stories of the Triforce granting a single wish to the person who obtained all three pieces. With Link and Zelda present on one side of the mirror and me on the other side, each holding a part of the legendary Triforce, all wishing for the same thing, the Triforce granted what we all desired most in that moment—that one, slim-chance moment.

If I didn't hold the Triforce of Power anymore I couldn't get back home, but that would be out of my control. I wouldn't feel guilty if I had no way to return to my people. I could simply call it bad luck and remain here, assisting in bringing peace to this realm now that my own was well once more.

I could stay here… with Link.

"Take it! Take this cursed power!" I cried out, set in my decision.

With a roar that was half laugh and half war cry he pulled the Triforce all the way out. The Triforce glowed in defiance, the brilliant holy light filling the entire death chamber and beyond. With a sickening snap of bones, the Triforce fled me with such a force that Ganon stumbled backwards, slamming into the cage bars.

I must've been relying on the power of the Triforce more than I had thought because suddenly I couldn't find the strength to stand, and I collapsed on the stone floor of my prison. I clutched my left hand and swallowed down the bile that rose in my throat as I examined it.

I glanced around, but it was not use. Whatever was missing from my hand had probably disintegrated when the Triforce came out. I gingerly touched one of the loose tendrils that dangled in the gaping hole where my hand used to be. Finger bones hung uselessly, causing more pain with every small movement. I was actually surprised my fingers were still attached at all, considering most of my hand was now missing.

My attention was pulled away from my deformed hand when Ganondorf rose, cackling. "Foolish," he mocked. "You've done me a favor, though, so I'll grant you a small favor, Princess. I will reveal your greatest flaw and most foolish folly. Though it looks like you're about to pass out, so I will be brief with my story. I curse you, first off. You forged a bond through my Triforce with your Hero. That's the only reason you broke through to him in time."

I gasped, my breath catching in my throat. He knew. He already knew his mental torture was now no more than an empty threat, so why…

"You see," he continued with a sneer plastered on his face. "Once a bond like that is forged, it can only be broken by two things. Either by killing the other half of your bond—the pain of that so great that you would gladly chop off your own hand and surrender the Triforce to me—or…"

Suddenly, I understood. All of his threats of forcibly removing the Triforce were empty. He would never be able to defeat Link without his Triforce piece, so that left him with only one option. Bluff. Force me to surrender the Triforce of Power through a little game.

And I played right into his hands.

"No," I mouthed.

"That's right," he proclaimed smugly. "You played a very dangerous game of chicken and lost. Have fun telling your Hero you doomed Hyrule because of your idiotic emotions. I'm sure he'll be thrilled." He paused a moment looking at me thoughtfully for a moment before the smug sneer returned. "If you live that long." With that he left the prison cell, not bothering to close it.

I sat on the ground staring blankly for a few minutes before finally collapsing. I felt myself falling into the darkness that was now so familiar, and all I could think about was how I failed Link and doomed Hyrule. All because of selfish lust. So I let myself go and I slept.

And I did not awaken.


	8. Twilight Bonds

_Chapter Seven: Twilight Bonds_

I felt like I was moving, but none of my limbs were in motion as far as I could tell. How, then, is it possible that I'm moving?

How is it possible that I'm still alive?

With a gasp of realization my eyes flew open and I nearly fell to the ground with my sudden motion. I was in fact moving, and not of my own accord. Someone was carrying me. But who? The only thing I could remember was a deep pool of darkness that felt never ending. Almost like I was drowning, only without water. I thought I was dead, yet… I'm not? _How_ though?

"Hold on, we're almost home," a gentle voice reassured me. I blinked once and peered up at the one holding me, but failed to make out any distinguishable features due to the dark hood that covered his face. I didn't dare try to move again, so I slept. After all, that's what I did last time. I surrendered and slept.

Like a weak coward, I retreated, once more, into the darkness.

* * *

What could've been minutes or hours later I awoke once again, this time, though, I was not moving. I stretched my limbs slowly, flexing each muscle, unsure of what was injured and what had been left unharmed. As it turned out every part ached a little, but the pain was definitely worse in some areas than others – namely my hand. Goddesses! My hand felt like it was burning!

"Ow," I moaned, wincing as I tried to sit up.

"Whoa, easy Midna," a near-by voice chided me. I glanced to my left to see the shadowed figure sitting across the fire from me, now standing in alarm at my sudden movement. "You,"—his voice broke and he had to clear it before continuing—"you're really hurt still, it hasn't even been twenty-four hours I don't think."

"You don't think?" I questioned, a bit confused. He stood up and walked around the fire, hesitating only briefly, before sitting next to me.

Link's face looked dead; there really was no other way to put it. Bags sagged under his eyes and lines were etched into his forehead from worry. And his eyes… The brilliant blue I was so used to was no more than a dull sheen. The fire had vanished from his once-thought untamable eyes. I wasn't sure what he had seen in the past day, exactly, but I had a close enough idea. So much had happened since we last saw each other. In fact, the last time we…

I felt a heat creep over my face suddenly and I quickly turned away from the thoughts. Link must've been thinking along the same lines because he returned my blush and glanced down at his boots.

"Midna I had no idea I—how long were you down there? How long did you suffer because I was so blind…? I… I'm so sorry," he said with a passion unlike his normal behavior. I wasn't sure how to respond right away. I couldn't deny it, after all. If not for his ignorance I never even would've suffered at Ganondorf's hand. How do you forgive someone who left you—couldn't even recognize you from an imposter? How do I forgive Link for letting me suffer? For having a hand in my suffering, even.

The answer was obvious. There was nothing to forgive. He couldn't have known anymore than I could've had the situation been reversed. Aside from that, where did I get off relying on Link? I hadn't done anything to help myself, why should've I expected him to do anything?

"It wasn't your fault, you couldn't have known," I began slowly, my voice still thick with sleep. I paused when he looked away from me with a clenched jaw. "Now, hey, look at me, Flea Bag! Don't blame yourself for this—do you hear me? If not for you I would still be trapped down there," I told him fiercely. Forgiving him was simple, but I wouldn't allow this self-pity, wallowing bit. "Get over yourself!"

"No, Midna, you!" He retorted loudly, his typically calming blue eyes suddenly filled with fire. "Don't act like this isn't my fault! Have you even looked at yourself? I bet you don't even realize—," he cut off his ranting suddenly as if he let a curse slip from his lips by mistake.

"Looked at myself?" I asked uncertainly. Taking a deep breath, I asked as calmly as I could "What do you mean, Link?"

"Nothing!" He replied, too quickly, before looking away again. I was about to repeat my question when I noticed his eyes. Curiosity got the better of me and I wondered what he was staring at. My hand? I glanced down and did a double take. My hand!

Where my hand should've been was now a heavily bandaged lump with no distinguishable form. I couldn't feel my fingers; I couldn't tell if they were even there. Then I followed a cut on my wrist up my arm to my shoulder only to find more heavy bandages. "W-what?" I managed to choke out. Memories of my time in Ganondorf's prison started to resurface. The blades, dipped in poison, the blood. Oh, all the blood.

"I'm sorry," Link whispered again. "I tried to—I did everything I could, I just don't know enough, I couldn't help you." His words broke off with a peculiar gurgle and he turned his entire body away from me, fighting to remain strong. Fighting to stay above the water and not drown, which was more than I could say for myself at the moment.

_What happened?_ I wondered in a panic. Slowly I reached for the bandages on my left hand, prepared to remove them.

Link's hand stopped me. "Don't," he whispered, barely loud enough for me to hear. "Please." I paused and looked into his eyes, my own filled with a rarely seen doubt and uncertainty. "You'll see tomorrow sometime. Whenever I need to change the bandages." He muttered something else, but I didn't quite catch it.

More memories of a time too recent: the Triforce. I surrendered it to Ganondorf, but how badly was my hand injured in the process?

I looked up at Link; his eyes were dull, not bright and clear like they typically are. I bit down on my lip and looked away—I couldn't stand to see him look so broken. For the first time since I awoke I took notice of my surroundings. We were in Faron Woods. In fact, it looked close to the same spot we had camped at with Zelda before Ganondorf showed up.

"Where are we?" I asked curiously, the somber mood lifting somewhat.

"North Faron Woods. We're headed back towards the castle to meet up with Zelda again," he replied. His dark brooding seemed forgotten, at least for the time being. I cocked my head to the side.

"Why are we going to see Zelda at the castle?" I wondered out loud.

"Well there is still the matter of Ganondorf, who we know now isn't up to any good, not to mention that strange creature…" Right. The thing that sounded like a redead but looked like a Hylian. The thought of it gave even me, the princess of Twilight, chills. Of course, that didn't really answer my question. It was obvious why we had to talk to Zelda; we had to stop Ganondorf.

"I meant, why are we meeting at the _castle?_ Isn't it like… I don't know collapsed—again—or something?" Link chuckled a little, thinking about our visits to Hyrule Castle and how they always seemed to end in the castle's destruction, I guess.

"They're rebuilding it," he told me with a smirk.

"They? They who?"

"The survivors, of course!"

I pondered this briefly, thinking back to the sudden but brief attack on Hyrule Castle. Everything had looked so grim and hopeless when we left. The streets had been bathed in blood, and Zelda was beside herself with grief for losing what seemed like all of her people. It was a relief to hear that this was not so. If there were enough survivors to start rebuilding the castle then I was sure the Hylians were nowhere near extinction yet.

"That's good to hear. At least someone out there is enjoying life," I complained, looking up at the sky.

"That's it?" Link asked, disbelieving.

"What do you mean 'that's it'?"

Link glanced around, nervously shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Uh, well, nothing, of course I just—" he hesitated, suddenly distracted by the fire. He started to put fresh kindle on the already strong flame, focusing solely on his task and ignoring me completely.

"Just what?" I prompted.

Link slowly went to his side of the fire and sat down. Slumping a little closer to the ground he finally answered me. "I just thought you would have more questions than that."

And it dawned on me. The thing he would be afraid I'd confront him about. What had he been doing all this time, while I was locked away in Ganondorf's dungeon? He didn't know that I was a prime witness to his disgrace. He thought the question had slipped my mind due to some kind of post-trauma distress, when, in reality, I never had any questions about his time away from me.

Then, another realization, he was too afraid or ashamed to confess straight out where he had been all this time, maybe even a little of both. He would rather wait for me to ask than bring it up on his own. Here I had been thinking he was so brave, when in truth he was hiding from it all—just like me.

"Link how long was I gone?" Judging by his reaction, that wasn't the question he had been expecting.

"Oh I don't know," he lied feebly. "Maybe a week or two… maybe a month or two…" I stirred uncomfortably at his vague answers.

"Link, tell me _now,_" I commanded angrily.

"Almost three seasons," he admitted quietly, looking away from me as he did so.

Three. Seasons.

My mind drew a blank, unable to comprehend that much time. There's simply no way that much time could've passed. I started counting backwards in my head, trying to fit my timeline into the realistic one I was just given. Ganon abducted me during the harvest season, I knew as much because of the colors Faron boasted at the time. I remember, once upon a time, talking to a certain wolf and asking him why the woods looked so different from when I had first seen them.

It was a cool day with colorful trees, but now it was warm with colorful flowers. There was a season between the harvest and the blossoming season, the cold season. Which would mean it had indeed been almost three seasons.

Impossible, I was only trapped for a few weeks, a month at most. On the other hand though… How many times did I switch between the physical world and the mental torture? Far too many to count, so what was he basing the amount of time I spent with each torture on? If he spent half of the day using the mental torture and the other half using physical, the time wouldn't fit. But between sessions I was unconscious. So much of my time had been spent in a pool of never ending darkness; there was no way I would've been able to accurately track time in that state…

I did notice, though, how the seasons changed around the imposter. I just didn't take it into account since I had much bigger problems at the time. Three seasons _had_ passed me by. Well, it was no wonder Link expected me to ask him where he'd been the entire time.

"Link, listen, I didn't even realize that much time passed, it seemed so much shorter," I consoled him. "And—." He cut me off with a wave of his hand.

"Don't bother, I already know what you want to ask. You want to know what I was doing the entire time, right?" He looked at me expectantly and I almost told him just the opposite—he didn't need to say anything if he didn't want to, and yet… Something deep inside of me screamed for retribution. Demanded he explain himself, and the more I listened to that voice the more I agreed with it. So I nodded my head, beckoning for him to continue.

"Midna, Ganondorf sent an imposter to fool me. Not that it's any excuse for—well anyway, I thought she was you. She—it—kept me distracted for a long time. Midna, it's a little hard to tell you why I was so easily fooled without telling you—um, well, that is to say…" Link started to squirm nervously and I took pity on him. We were friends, after all, and he didn't deserve to dangle like this.

"Link, what would you say if I told you that I know?"

He looked confused, his previous awkwardness forgotten for the moment. "What do you mean?"

"It was part of Ganon's torture," I explained numbly, trying to remember enough without really remembering. "He had some sort of cursed coin that forced me into the mind of the imposter. It was disgusting, really, but at the same time similar to the time Zelda shared a mind with me. I saw her trick you and I—," I broke off mid-sentence, unsure of whether or not I should tell him just how much I saw.

Link smiled sadly, "So you saw how long—how much it took—before I realized my mistake." I nodded back, a blush creeping up my neck from the fire's intensity. I should've stopped Link from putting more wood on it.

"I, uh, only saw you realize that it wasn't me," I stated hesitantly. "How much did she tell you?"

Link's face turned grim. "She told me that she enjoyed our time together, and congratulated me on being the first to uncover her true identity. In honor of that she told me where to find you and who she worked for. When I asked her why she decided to help me and betray Ganondorf, she told me that he would kill her now, regardless of what happened. She wanted to redeem herself and go down like a hero," Link snorted in a mix of disgust and humor at the end of her explanation.

A heavy and awkward silence fell over us as we each became lost in our own thoughts. I wanted to ask Link why he would even trust me so much when he should be suspicious of all people, especially with Ganon on the prowl. I mean, honestly! He is the Hero of Light and Hero of Twilight; anyone with malicious intent could be after him! He shouldn't be so open—of course an enemy would take the form of his closest friend first!

I let out a loud sigh and winced when my ribs ached in protest. Link noticed.

"Let's just rest for tonight, once we get back to the castle…" he paused and, not for the first time tonight, was uncertain of what to say. I agreed with him though, there was the matter of the strange Hylian, the attack on the castle, Ganondorf, my people and what they were doing without me…

And that's just the top of the list—the big problems we're all facing together, not including our own small insignificant dramas. Like the one I now had to face with Link. The images of him with the seducer wouldn't be leaving my mind anytime soon. How was I supposed to deal with that? I rubbed my temples. First thing's first: Zelda and the castle.

I laid back down, closed my eyes, and tried not to think.

* * *

The sun was shining, the birds danced among the blooming tree branches and somewhere, I was sure of it, children played. Quite a nice day, fine weather, as people here would say. My money was on Nayru for arranging this joke of a day. The weather couldn't permeate the tense, emotional bubble I was stuck in the for the entire walk to the castle. From where I was standing it did seem as if though the goddesses were taunting me. Blessing their precious light dwellers with a beautiful day that seemed just outside of my reach.

"Farore!" I exclaimed.

I was ticked off, and sick of this so-called epic journey. We weren't even _doing_ anything! Link glanced up at me, looking concerned. "What are you staring at?" I snapped. Surprised by my outburst, he attempted to shake his head and shrug his shoulders all at once, which made it look like something had just electrocuted him. Searching for something to distract me, I noticed my hand for what felt like the thousandth time today.

Link had told me that morning he would change the bandage after we had traveled for the day. No point in changing them only to get them dirty right away, he explained. I suppose, on one hand, he was right, but on the other I knew he was just putting it off. I glared at him as we continued on our way towards Hyrule Castle.

* * *

I grinned happily as I watched the sun sink on the horizon. Twilight. Now this is more like it.

I cradled my hand against my chest, it was starting to hurt and faint echoes of a time not long ago started to resound through my arm. Regardless of what else Ganon did, he would at least die for making me suffer. No one avoided my wrath once I was set on it, not even Ganondorf himself. I really hope he's looking for a nice deep hole to crawl in. I swear by Din, when I find him…

"I need to change the bandage," Link said suddenly, pulling me from my plotting. He looked a bit uncomfortable. Uncertainly, I held out my hand. "Sorry if this hurts," he murmured in apology. "Obviously you haven't been awake while I was changing them before, so I don't really know how much it'll hurt." I shrugged indifferently as he slowly unwound the cloth.

At first it didn't hurt. Sure it stung a little, but really I expected as much. What really hurt was actually looking at the wound. My fingers hung limply, secure to my hand if only barely, and my wrist seemed to be missing a decent chunk of skin. In all honesty my hand itself was really nonexistent, held together only by threads. I heard Link mutter something under his breath, though I couldn't quite hear what he said I'm pretty sure it was a curse. The dried up blood flaked off easily, which caused fresh blood to rush in every time Link touched my hand in the wrong spot.

"I have no idea how this'll heal," he told me truthfully, a sad note to his typically carefree voice. "I'm sorry." I wasn't sure if he was apologizing for not know or for allowing it to happen in the first place. He tied the last knot and leaned back with a satisfied smile, albeit a mournful one. After he returned to his sleeping mat. I sat down and sighed, mindful of my still aching ribs. I was pretty sure at least one was cracked if not more.

I gazed at Link's prone form, wondering, not for the first time, what was on his mind. He lay awake, gazing at the sky like it held all of the answers in the world. We would arrive at Hyrule Castle tomorrow, early, and I wasn't sure if I looked forward to the encounter or not. Something, perhaps some remnant of Zelda's own thoughts, told me that I was in for a big headache tomorrow.

* * *

The arrival at Castle Town was a strangely silent affair, but as we approached the castle the noise level increased. It seemed like every able-bodied Hylian was at work rebuilding the castle. We walked into the main room of the castle without causing much of a fuss. Then again, the people didn't have much to lose as far as the castle went at this point. The rough outline, so to speak, had been laid out with the wooden beams of some-day towers rising high into the clouds. The first level was completely finished while stone was being fixed into position on the second and third levels. Over all, the progress was steady and the castle would be finished before the season was up, I was sure of it.

We found Zelda in a roughly finished room towards the south end of the castle where, according to the person who we had found to escort us in, the new general would be staying after construction was complete.

"Link! Midna!" Zelda exclaimed upon seeing us; she had been working at a roughly finished, paper-filled desk.

"That's what they usually say," I replied slyly. She laughed. The queen of Hyrule actually laughed, despite all the problems we had racked up against us at the moment. My mouth fell open with a _pop_ and Link barely managed to keep a neutral expression.

"What happened after I left?" she inquired, turning to Link, immediately back to business.

"The Midna who was with us when you left was an imposter," he told her bleakly. I watched silently as her eyes went wide at this news. Link continued to fill her in, ending with the part I was unconscious for.

"When I found her she was sleeping, but I thought… I was sure she was dead," he continued, his voice low with grief. "Her whole body was bruised and bloody, and her hand…" Link shuddered at the memory and Zelda placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"It must've been hard on you to see her like that."

I shifted uncomfortably on my feet, not enjoying the way Zelda's hand lingered on Link's shoulder. Did she have to leave it there for so long? I cleared my throat, and Zelda faced me with an apologetic smile on her lips as she took a step away from Link. I shrugged.

"So, Zelda, what are we going to do about Ganondorf?" I asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"I must stay here and oversee the construction, but I think it would be wise for Link to check around the provinces, just to make sure," Zelda rattled off as she returned to the paper-filled desk. "Honestly I don't think Ganondorf is actually a threat at the moment."

I quirked an eyebrow in surprise while Link responded, "No offense meant, Zelda, but have you noticed how he destroyed the castle and attacked us? You must be insane not to think that he's a threat!"

Zelda shook her head sadly and explained very slowly, like she was talking to newborns, "He may have attacked us, but he's been keeping a rather low profile compared to last time. I highly doubt we can find him, let alone consider him a threat. Din knows what he did to return to the world of the living or how much of his power it took." A strange chill ran down my spine at her words. Something felt too close, like the heart-clenching moment you hear a creak in your home in the dead of night, and you wait with bated breath to discover whether or not someone's broken in.

"So what am I supposed to do?" I questioned irritably.

"You should stay here," she promptly responded.

"Why?" I spurred after a lengthy pause.

"Oh! Yes, there's to be a royal ball soon, you know in celebration of the new castle. Everyone will be there, nobles and peasants alike." She spun around to face me with a questioning look in her eyes. "That won't be a problem, correct?"

I stared at her blankly for moment, wondering if she was serious. When she continued to patiently wait for my response I realized that, indeed, she was not kidding, and she very much planned on having a royal ball in the middle of a crisis.

"You must be joking!" I exclaimed.

"Well, of course the towers still need to be finished, but that shouldn't take much longer. Oh, and you can travel with Link until that's done if you really want, but I did imagine you might want to rest a bit after what you've been through." She returned to the papers on her desk muttering about some over-due fines. I glanced over at Link who looked just as bewildered as I felt.

Just as he was about to question Zelda's rather rash behavior, Link collapsed, lurching forward.

"Link!" I screamed in terror. Zelda rushed to his side and began examining him, her Triforce glowing softly.

"Strange," she said after a moment, though it sounded more like a question. "Quick, there should be a medic nearby, go fetch him; I'll watch over Link!"

A few hours later Link was resting in Zelda's crudely finished bed with a very tired-looking doctor presiding over him. The old man stood up, rubbing his face with one hand and clenching the other.

"There's not much I can do for this young man, unfortunately," he said on his way out. "His illness comes from no where within his body—almost as if though by magic has he fallen ill. The only thing I can prescribe is plenty of TLC. His body is weak, but it is for his soul I fear." With these parting words he left us with a dying hero and no real solution.

"Zelda, can't you do something?" I demanded a bit harshly. "You brought me back from near death, surely you can help Link!"

"Midna did you listen to what the doctor said at all?" she snapped. "His is an illness of the soul—something not even I can heal. What he needs right now is a goddess-given miracle!"

I groaned in frustration and banged my fist against the nearest object, which just so happened to be the stone wall. "Ow! Dang it!"

"Midna, look," Zelda spoke quickly, before I summoned enough magic to blast a hole through her new wall. "There's only one person who could've done something like this to Link."

"Ganondorf," I spat.

"The very same. Without Link we're in more danger than ever before, but I'm sure that's just what he wants. No, we mustn't over think this. There _is_ a way for you to return to the Twilight Realm, I'm sure of it, we just need to find it."

"Wait," I interrupted, confused. "Why do we need to find a way back into the Twilight Realm?"

"So we can amass more troops, and you may be able to find some kind of ancient magic to help heal Link that us Hylians have long forgotten," Zelda concluded looking thoughtful as she continued to plan ahead.

"Hold on, one little problem with that—Hylians turn to spirits when they enter my realm and Twili turn to shadows when they enter yours," I reminded her. "We can't very well assist each other if one side's insubstantial."

"That's true, but after you left I took some interest in history, particularly of your people's history,"—so, I wasn't the only one who developed a strange fetish over the course of our last adventure—"and I believe that I have found a way to keep the Twili in a solid form when faced with the light."

I nodded in affirmative, trusting she had found something before my gaze lingered back to Link.

"Don't worry about him, Midna," Zelda was quick to reassure me. "I won't let him out of my sight any longer than needed, and I'll be sure to have the doctor continue his check ups."

I grinned and replied, "You can watch him, just don't touch him. Farore knows the last thing I need is more of that on my head." I sighed and frowned, Zelda simply looked confused. Link had skimmed over most of his time with the imposter, so I suppose she wouldn't get the joke. Oh well, wasted humor.

Sparing one last look at Link, I walked out the door and towards the exit that would lead me back to Hyrule Field. Suddenly I felt a strange breeze caress my face, almost like a tug, gently urging me forward. Curiosity pricked, I followed the strangely inviting wind. Fleetingly I wondered if this was how Link felt when he heard the howling stones we had previously encountered. It wasn't simply a want, but a need. I simply had to know what produced this irresistible wind.

Frustrated by my slow pace I quickly took to the shadows in order to obtain a faster route, only to discover that I could hear the wind even more clearly in my shadowed form. The scenery rushed past me in a blur as I raced forward, guided only by the enticing sound of the wind. Abruptly the sound stopped and I skidded to a halt.

I leapt from the shadows and was momentarily confused by my surroundings. How far had I traveled? I had only been following the sound for a few minutes, yet it was twilight, of that much I was sure. When I left Zelda and Link it had been midday. I really needed my internal clock fixed—first thinking seasons to be weeks and now hours to be minutes.

Faron, I decided. I hadn't encountered another province with forests as beautiful as the ones in Faron, so I must've ended up here—again. I frowned to myself as I examined my surroundings further. Something was off but what…

Then it dawned on me. Twilight, the sun should've been in the west, but neither it nor the moon were visible. This twilight was unnatural. Fortunately I was no light dweller, meaning I wasn't going to panic, but examine and assess my situation. Yes, definitely _my_ Twilight, but there had to be a source.

A gleam of light caught my eye, then I felt the wind again, only this time I understood what it was: the call of the Twilight, beckoning its master home. I had felt the same thing when the mirror was reassembled the first time, before it was shattered.

I rounded the corner, drifting along with the gentle push of the wind, and came face to face with my worst nightmare.

The Twilight had returned.

I cursed loudly, desperately wishing I had something to hit. Nestled into the deeper part of the forest, pulsing with triumph, the curtain of Twilight mocked me. On one hand, no one would find the curtain this deep in the woods unless they were completely lost. Not many people came this far south to begin with. What worried me was how the Twilight had broken through its restraints—again. Why did everything have to feel like déjà vu?

Standing here obviously wasn't doing anything to help Link, or putting Ganondorf back into his grave for good. It was up to me and all I had to do was enter the Twilight Realm and do a little research. Then I could return and help the light dwellers.

But what if the portal was only temporary? What if it vanished as soon as I stepped through, as a part of Ganondorf's plot? Or what if it wasn't even accessible from the other side—a one-way portal?

I couldn't leave Link here, not again, but if I didn't leave, for at least a short time, then he would die anyway. It was time to take a lesson from a hero and think: what would Link do?

He would go to the ends of two worlds to save me, he already had. I could do the same for him, I had to. Taking a deep breath I slowly approached the curtain of Twilight.

"Ah, nostalgia," I muttered as the Twilight consumed me.

* * *

"Midna, no!" Link shot straight up in bed, thrashing and screaming wildly. Zelda jumped up from the desk, where she had been working, and rushed to calm him.

"Link, Link please, calm down!" she commanded, but it was useless.

"The Twilight! The Twilight! Midna! No!" He continued on in this insane matter, panic evident in his eyes. Zelda considered getting the doctor, but just then her left hand was engulfed in a brilliant white light, and she fell to the ground.

"Ah, Link?" Zelda questioned, clutching her head and slowly rising from the stone floor. "Why am I back in this time?" She questioned a bit irritably. Then she noticed Link.

"Oh, no."

She slapped Link across the face once, stunning him long enough to grasp his hand. "Just as I thought," she muttered grimly looking down at Link's hand which had taken on a strange shade of green-black. "How did this happen Link?" The hero in questioned remained silent, staring off at an invisible point in space.

Zelda shook her head disappointedly. "So that's why my Link couldn't get through—your Triforce is…broken."

With this comment, the Zelda of a time past fled, returning to her own time, leaving a very confused queen of Hyrule to figure out what she already knew.

The fault of one was the suffering of another.

* * *

I inhaled the fresh scent of the Twilight Realm with a sad smile on my lips. I was home, but for how long this time? I started to make my way to the palace with only one thing on my mind: visiting an old friend.

Several minutes later, as I arrived at the palace, my determination started to deter. I certainly didn't want to visit the nutcase, but I didn't have much of a choice. He was the only one who might know what Ganondorf was up to and be able to help heal Link. As much as I hated it, I needed him.

Ignoring the questions of my advisors—I could take care of them later—I marched down the familiar stone corridors to the makeshift prison cell. Locking the door behind me, I turned to face my all in one nightmare and hope.

"Good evening, Princess," he murmured in greeting. At least he didn't sound totally insane like normal.

"Zant," I replied, inclining my head momentarily.

"So you've finally found use for me?"

"You could say that," I hedged, frowning at his soft voice and blank stare.

"Midna, just spit it out," he seethed, finally showing emotion after a short pause. "I am sick of this room and I want my redemption now!" I was a bit surprised by his choice of words, but refused to show it.

"Zant, if you honestly think, for even a fleeting moment that I'd trust you—"

"I'm not asking you to trust me, just to offer me the salvation you promised because, let me tell you something Midna, being dead does a lot to a guy! It gives him time to think and lose his mind, but of course, that damage was already done when I arrived. Point being I've realized some things. I've discovered my weaknesses and I'm sick of the darkness that lurks within me and within you and within all Twili. You promise us our redemption, so where is it?" He stood fuming and I stood shocked by his words, unable to reply right away.

All Twili shared a dream, even the most insane, as was Zant's case. That dream was to be redeemed in the eyes of the goddesses. We hated the light dwellers with a smoldering passion because we wanted to _be_ them. They had no idea what it was like for every generation of their people to receive the punishments of the goddesses for one generation's mistakes.

Yes, deep within our very souls was the dream of redemption.

The real question was: who would lead us to the realization of that dream? We had many great kings and queens through out the years, but none were able to go the distance—there had always been a missing element.

The Light Realm, itself, is that missing element, and I was the first Twili to return to the Light Realm in thousands of years. I had the missing element, but that didn't mean I could lead our people to redemption. Stories were told, of how revered the one would be who would lead us to salvation, and, frankly, those were big shoes to fill. Not to mention I had more on my plate than I felt like I could handle as it was.

"You hesitate, my Queen, but you forget that you have the loyalty of the Twili on your side," Zant reminded me, his voice turning soft once more.

"Zant if you want your so-called redemption, you had better listen up," I told him sternly. "I… require your unique abilities."

"You need a master of our magic," he corrected me, and, by Nayru, I swear he smirked.

"I'll grant you access to the library, but you will be under close watch," I continued, trying to ignore his confident air. "Also I need you to tell me all you know about Ganondorf," I concluded.

"Ganondorf," Zant muttered, spitting on the ground. "That swine, he's dead—even I know as much."

"And you think I don't know this? I witnessed his death myself, but if he were to return how would he do so?"

"Ganondorf… was powerful, even I'll admit as much, but he was not immortal—certainly not a god by any standards," he laughed bitterly here before continuing. "The only way he could be resurrected was by the hand of a god. Your wolf did well in killing him, better than most I'd imagine, considering he was still dead when I was revived."

"And what do you imagine he would do if he were brought back to life?"

"Kill your wolf, first, then kill anyone else who helped kill him, and, goddesses forbid, if he were to force his way back into our realm you'd be killed too," he answered confidently.

"Interesting," I replied, keeping a neutral expression. "Now use your imagination on this one. You speak of our redemption rather passionately. How would we go about sustaining ourselves in the Light Realm without covering it in Twilight?"

He bowed his head, thinking. "You're asking how we would retrieve some of our light dweller abilities, then?"

"Correct."

"It would be… difficult, but maybe not impossible," he determined. "And I have access to the royal library?"

I nodded once in a silent response.

"I can try."

Though his assessments left me unnerved I simply nodded once more considering my next step carefully. "Guards!" I called. Instantly two armored Twili rushed in, magic summoned and at the ready. "Sorry, didn't mean to frighten you. I want you to take him to the library to study subjects that will not be disclosed to you, just keep an eye on him. If he tries anything tricky, use your imagination."

With a quick "Yes, ma'am" they seized Zant and started towards the royal library.

A god Ganondorf was not, but that didn't mean one couldn't be helping him. However if that were the case I would've been killed a long time ago, along with Zelda, Link, and everyone else.

So what was he up to, and how had he managed his miraculous, if cursed, return? Rubbing my temples, I decided it would be best to get some rest for tonight and continue my search for answers in the morning after a nice Twili-style breakfast.

As soon as I stepped into my room, though, I felt that something was wrong. I wasn't alone. The door slid shut behind me and I waited for a sign of movement, all the while my mind returned to a dark, destroyed castle with an undead Hylian lurking in the shadows. It could just be a servant cleaning up, but I didn't dare call out to check.

"Hello?" a timid voice called out. I breathed a sigh of relief and took another step into the room.

"It's just me," I reassured. "Why's it so dark in here?"

"Oh, we don't like the light." My blood suddenly ran cold. The voice had taken on a very different tenor; the previous a soft-spoken one whereas this one was purely sinister. I sensed movement to my left and ducked just in time to avoid the bloodied body that crashed into the wall behind me. I barely had time to recognize the corpse as one of my palace servants before I moved again.

"Don't make this any harder than it needs to be, Queen," the faceless voice purred.

"Show yourself!" I demanded, summoning a bolt of magic in anticipation. Quiet laughter filled the room, echoing off all sides and for a chilling moment I was reminded of Zant's attack. Shaking my head once, I let the bolt lose, aiming in the direction the projectile had come from. A shriek of pain replaced the laughter, briefly, before a howl of rage drowned it out.

_Great, all I did was tick it off_. Luck was all us Twili had (the goddesses certainly weren't rooting for us) and I didn't even have that right now.

Then I bumped into a rack filled with staves. Each staff represented a different previous ruler—a legacy, if you will, and they remained in my room as a reminder of what I had to live up to. Snatching up the first staff I touched I dashed towards the window, hoping to gain the advantage of sight. Just as I was about to draw the curtain out of the way, the invisible attacker tackled me. I slammed into the ebony stone floor and brought my staff up in time to fend off hungry teeth.

Quickly I kicked out, forcing the thing off me. Leaping to my feet, I dived for the curtains, pulling the whole thing down—rod and all.

"Ow," I muttered rubbing my head where the rod had hit me on its way down. I looked around only to find nothing but an empty room. "What the…?"

Cautiously I walked around the room—twice and still nothing. Under the bed, in the closet, yet still nothing. Puzzled I stood near the window and gazed out at the Twilight. Whatever had attacked me was very similar, if not the same thing, that attacked Link and I at Hyrule Castle. Even though I wasn't able to see its face well this time, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that they were of the same breed. However, this one had the capability to talk. Not to say the other one didn't, but he certainly didn't use the skill if he had it.

How had it gotten here, in the Twilight Realm? More importantly: where were they coming from?

* * *

The next morning I awoke with Link and a visit to the library on my mind. I arrived to find Zant hunched over a book, eyes scanning the page quickly before he leaned back with a loud sigh.

"Research got you down?" I asked with a superior smirk.

He grunted and grabbed a different book. "If you want me to work, I suggest you not distract me right now."

I shrugged and peered at the book.

"Don't read over my shoulder."

"I wasn't reading, I was looking."

"Whatever," he grunted.

"What are you looking up right now anyways?" I questioned. The book he was currently reading had the look of ancient Hylian writing. He was supposed to be finding a way to allow the Twili to hold their form in the light. My job was to find something to cure Link.

"Simply brushing up," he replied, flipping the page. "It may shock you to know this, Princess, but I am quite the linguist. You know what they say though, use it or lose it." Stretching he walked over to one of the many shelves in the library to put the book back and retrieve a new one. "Do you plan on standing there watching me all day, or did you want something?" he questioned, frustration seeping into his tone.

"You're a well versed magician and historian, even if you are insane—,"

"Previously insane," he corrected quickly.

"Whatever. Anyways, you're knowledgeable. Perhaps you would even retain some information on Hylian illnesses," I concluded.

"I won't ask your reasons for asking, if only to prove my loyalty, but I will say this: Hylians are creatures very different from Twili. Obviously the last Hylians our people encountered could be very different from the Hylians who now roam the Light Realm," he explained without taking his eyes off the book in front of him. "In fact," he continued, "I'd say there's no guarantee that they'd be anything alike."

Frowning I asked, "So, let's say they're very much alike, could you tell me something about their illnesses then?"

"Sure, I could tell you how to mend their bones, cure their colds, anything," he answered with confidence.

"What if one collapses but nothing is wrong with him physically?"

Zant leaned back in his seat to ponder this. "I told you I could cure them, not diagnose them." Disappointed, I turned to leave, but Zant stopped me by speaking up suddenly. "Though by the sounds of it…"

"Yes?" I prompted expectantly.

"Ganondorf stored his power in me, and even as far gone as I was I could tell that was something unnatural—or perhaps completely natural."

"What do you mean?" I demanded irritably.

"Surely you know the stories, Midna,"—catching a glare from me, he cleared his throat before continuing—"Princess. The reason we were sent here, the golden power." I nodded and gestured for him to continue. "I believe, to this day, Ganondorf had that power, but it was a tainted thing. I wager if the taint's source hadn't been his own blood then he would've succumbed to insanity from it."

"So what does this have to do with my problem?"

"Don't you see? Take that corruption and put it in a normal Hylian." As he said this, an epiphany hit me like lightening. My question to Zelda as she spoke of the potential of relationships through the golden power: could a bond through the Triforce be tainted? Link and I had formed a bond, through Power and Courage, I knew as much because I was able to speak to him through the imposter sent to replace me. Just because the Triforce's owner changed didn't mean the bond was shattered. It would certainly explain why Link and Zelda so easily trusted each other.

Ganondorf had recaptured the Triforce of Power, but unexpectedly it held a path straight to Link's soul. He realized what it was and his poisonous taint leaked from one Triforce to the other. Now Link was dieing from the inside out.

"How would you purify such a thing?" I asked, failing to keep the desperation out of my tone.

"For something as powerful as Ganondorf's venom? That'd be impossible," he paused, thinking. "Unless…"

"What?"

"You'd have to take the whole bloody thing out. The golden power itself."

My eyes went wide and I leaned against the wall for support. No, no, no. Remove the entire Triforce? Panic started to gnaw on the edge of my mind. Was that even possible choice for us at this point? And if it is, could we really risk removing the Triforce from Link's body? Just thinking about what kind of pain that would put him through… Not to mention it would tear apart his hand, just as the process had done to mine.

Without the extra boost of Courage could Link even be able to face Ganondorf?

I cursed loudly, causing Zant to turn around and glance at me sideways before returning to his book. Ganon! He had planned this; he already knew what our options would be! Either we remove the Triforce and take out our own hero or he would do it slowly by poisoning his soul.

"Zant!" I barked causing him to jump.

"What?" he asked crossly.

"Would there be any other way?"

"Any other way?" he echoed uncertainly. Pinching the bridge of my nose between my thumb and forefinger I elaborated.

"Another way to cleanse the taint in a normal Hylian?"

"It would depend on the source, how it got into his bloodstream. If, for example, it was placed within him magically, you would have to remove it by reversing the magic—a counter spell, if you will," he informed me with a satisfactory nod.

The bond.

It could be broken, couldn't it? Surely there must be some way, but what would it mean for Link and me? How do you break a relationship? I chewed nervously on my lip as I mulled this over, realizing how clear everything was. How easy it would be, but hadn't we been through enough? Rubbing my temples, I left the library to talk to the palace swordsman. I needed to take out some frustrations.

* * *

At least now I understood why Link enjoyed sword fighting so much. It was relaxing. I waved good-bye happily to two rather frightened looking guards, and headed back to the library to check on Zant's progress.

"Well?" I asked expectantly upon entering the room.

"Ah, just the person I needed to talk to," Zant replied, sounding rather smug.

"What have you learned?" I leaned back against the nearest wall, waiting. Grinning like a fat tomcat, Zant stood and bowed regally.

"Your Highness, I believe our people may still yet have a shot at salvation!"

"Get on with it," I commanded impatiently.

"Why tell when I can show? You there,"—he gestured towards a guard—"hold still." The guard looked at me rather nervously, but I left my expression blank. "Now, Princess, try this incantation here."

I took the book from him and read over the spell. The words were Hylian, written in Twili. Trusting Zant had never been a problem, not really. Underestimating him had been. Was I simply falling for another of his tricks? More importantly, did I have any other options at this point? And, to that, I knew the answer. "Goddesses protect you if this is a trick of yours and I live through it."

"You and your wolf killed me once, Princess, it wasn't that bad," he reminded me.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and began uttering the ancient Hylian incantation.


	9. Bloodlust

_Chapter Eight: Bloodlust_

I finished the incantation and waited anxiously.

But nothing happened.

"Did I do something wrong?" I questioned uncertainly.

"No of course not, but we won't be able to tell if it worked or not unless we go to the Light Realm," Zant explained impatiently. The guard looked confused. He wasn't the only one.

"Fine, follow me," I commanded, setting a quick pace. How far was I willing to go for the Light Realm and Link? Would I really go so far as to lead Zant back to their world? He couldn't know that I found a way back to the Light Realm because that was why I brought him back to life. Reviving him was purely for my own greedy purposes, a sad attempt to reach Link again, so he couldn't have plotted to trick me into leading him to the curtain, if he didn't even know it existed.

Unless, there was some way for him to figure it out. Maybe my extended absence tipped him off. Too late now, we had arrived.

I heard a muffled gasp come from both of my companions. Zant slowly reached forward to touch the wall, but withdrew before actually making contact. The guard backed away a few steps, and looked like he was ready to turn tail and run. I took a deep breath and stepped forward, gesturing for them to follow me.

On the other side of the Twilight curtain I stood, with a shadowed Zant, waiting for the guardsmen to come through.

"What if he chickens out and runs away?" Zant asked from a nearby shadow.

"Then we find him, drag him back here, and shove him through the curtain if we have to," I seethed. "Din! Doesn't he realize that the fate of the Twili rests on his shoulders?"

"Probably not," Zant muttered. "I mean, what if the only reason we can step through is because of our above-average level of magic?" he questioned, pondering the possibilities out loud. "What if the only way to the Light Realm is indeed power? Granted, a different kind of force."

I shook my head impatiently. There had to be an easy way that we were simply missing. Suddenly a flare of light erupted from the curtain, and I jumped back in surprise. Shielding my eyes, I had to squint to make out the form of a Twili, materializing right before my eyes. As the metaphorical dust cleared, I heard a gasp come from Zant.

"Holy blessed goddesses!"

My jaw dropped open at the sight of the Twili, standing proudly and unharmed, in the Light Realm. Not as a shadow. "Din's fire!" I exclaimed. "Zant, you insane psycho you did it!" Zant simply glared triumphantly at the now very, very confused guardsman. I'd really have to get his name later and thank him for helping today without question and only slight hesitation.

"W-where are we?" he asked uncertainly.

"The Light Realm, friend. Welcome home," Zant told him with a smug grin, offering his hand to the trembling Twili.

"Okay, listen up," I said, returning attention to myself. "I want you"—I commanded while pointing to the guard—"to return to the palace, but you are not to speak a word of this until given permission. If you notice any strange side effects, write them down. Understood?"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

"And you"—pointing to Zant this time—"get to come with me, but, I swear by Farore, the moment you act up, you're dead," I told him sternly.

"Yes, Your Highness," Zant mock-saluted. "Now can you try out that incantation on me, please? I want use of my hands, if its not too much trouble."

A quick spell and some shadow travel later, we arrived at the front of too-close-to-completion-for-comfort castle. Zant refused to come out of the shadows, so I walked alone back to the room Link and Zelda were staying at. Upon entering the room I could tell something was off, but I wasn't sure what that was until Zelda blocked my view from Link.

"How is he?" I asked, worry coloring my tone, only to receive a vague answer.

"Midna, he's fine, of course, but we should let him rest. We can talk somewhere else," she reasoned. Ignoring her protests, I dropped into the shadows and reappeared by Link's bedside. I heard Zelda's teeth click together in frustration.

"Link," I murmured mournfully. I checked his hand, quickly wishing I hadn't. The entire hand was black, almost burnt looking, and it was spreading up his arm. As far as his elbow I could see trace amounts of the poison that was there, but not really there. Soul poison. Suddenly, I heard Zelda scream. I spun around to see what the problem was, only to groan in frustration.

"Zant!" I yelled in anger.

"What?"

"Don't just pop out of the shadows like that; you nearly gave Zelda a heart attack!" We both looked over at said queen, who was now clutching her chest with wide eyes.

"What is _it_ doing here? How did _it_ get here?" Zelda fired off questions quicker than I had time to answer, so I simply waited for her mini-rant to finish.

"Deep breaths," I reminded her. "Zelda I found a way back to the Twilight Realm—but that's a problem for another time—and Zant found a way for the Twili to stay solid in this realm, as you can see." I waited for her response. Zant looked a little nervous, with good reason I suppose. Entering a place unwelcome was never the best formula for happy people.

"That still doesn't explain why _it's_ here!" she exclaimed, exasperated, while jabbing a finger at Zant.

"Zelda, I know this is hard to believe, but Zant is on our side. He's, uh, what's the word?" I questioned, glancing at Zant.

"A reformed maniac."

"Ah, right, that!"

Zelda looked at us like we were crazy, but I suppose, in some sense, we were. Who, but a mentally unstable being, would present the former conqueror of Hyrule to the proper ruler of the very same land? I imagine Zelda still had a few grudges to settle with Zant. They could work it out on their own; I had my own problems. Walking back to Link's side I took his left hand in my good one, and started talking to him.

"Link, I'm sorry. I have to do something… hard. I should never have shattered the mirror, and I want you to know that just in case this doesn't work," I murmured sorrowfully. "Zelda? What do you know about removing a Triforce from someone?" I questioned softly.

Taken aback by my request, she hesitated. "Midna, why would you want to…?" she questioned uncertainly.

"Link's Triforce is tainted, poisoning his soul," I explained calmly. "You need to remove it with your magic if you can. I'm… worried that if I try to remove it, the process won't go as well."

"I can't do it, not without his consent, and you know as well as I that he would never agree to this," Zelda replied, firm in her decision. "He'd die and take the Triforce with him before risking its exposure to Ganondorf!"

"He may be willing to die, but I'm not willing to let him," I muttered, not really caring about what she thought was right and what was wrong. He was dying, from his own Triforce, because of me. This isn't about right and wrong, this is about correcting a mistake. I stroked Link's blackened hand tenderly. "I'm so sorry." With these last words I raised my other hand and began searching for the tug of magic I knew would be around his hand somewhere.

Then I felt it and had to swallow down the bile that rose in my throat. Barley brushing the magic left me feeling ill; how would I manage pulling it out? Gritting my teeth, I tugged again and felt the resistance. "Link you've got to let go of me, other wise I can't remove it…"

"M-Midna!" Link gasped, just barley managing to open his eyes, though they rolled about uselessly, unseeing.

"Link, you've got to let go of me—of everything that's happened, do you understand? It's the only way I can make you better," I told him tearfully, praying that he understood and would comply.

"Midna this is madness!" Zelda cried, fuming and walking quickly towards me to stop the so-called madness.

"Zant," I commanded without emotion. Instantly I heard Zelda's cry of protest as Zant came out of the shadows and held her back. It seems like resurrecting him hadn't been such a waste after all.

"Link, did you know I resurrected Zant? Everything we worked for when the Twilight invaded your realm, I brushed off like it was nothing, and brought our sworn enemy back to life," I laughed weakly, trying to keep the emotion from my voice. "How does that make you feel Hero?" I mocked.

"No, Midna, don't—," his weak protest was cut off with a gurgle as he coughed out blood. "Why? Why did you break the mirror?" The question caught me off guard and I lost some ground, but quickly rebounded with the perfect answer.

Laughing once like I was queen of the world, I replied, "Foolish light dweller! You should know why. I shattered it so that light and shadow could never mix again,"—which was true—"and so I could get away from you." He winced but my resolve held, if only just. "I have a whole other life in the Twilight Realm, stupid dog. I have a fiancé who I am to marry, so that I may become the full-fledged queen of my realm," I boasted cheerfully.

"N-no," he protested weakly. "I-I thought…!"

"You didn't honestly think that you meant something to me? Ha! Laughable, you were a tool, Mutt!" I answered smugly, anticipating his question. "The only way you would've been allowed back into the Twilight Realm with me was as a pet and slave. The same thing you were all through out our little adventure."

His Triforce glowed weakly in protest, trying to grant the courage its wielder needed, but with the taint polluting it, the piece could do nothing. And then I felt the give; the slip that told me Link was buying into my lies.

"Stupid Dog!" I exclaimed, punching him in the face with all the force I could muster. "Let _me_ go!" And he did, almost instantly. With a grunt of exertion and flashes of déjà vu, I removed the courage piece of the Triforce.

Link shot straight up, screaming like I had never heard in my life—not even my own screams of pain could've matched his, but, then again, he lost a lot more than I did. I gave up the Triforce of power, hoping it would spare me the suffering; I surrendered because of greed. He surrendered because of a broken heart. Link sat perfectly still, silent tears escaping fearless blue eyes. I couldn't stand watching him sit there so confused, but I couldn't look away, either. Soon enough my own tears began stinging my checks.

Zant finally allowed Zelda her freedom, and she rushed forward to check on Link, while I sank into the shadows. "Midna what did you do?" She exclaimed in a panic. Silently, I moved forward and offered her the Triforce piece. Her eyes went wide, and, for once in her life, Zelda was speechless. "Th-that's not…"

"It is, actually," Zant remarked as he approached the gleaming, bloody piece, face glowing in excitement. "I never thought I'd live to see something this astounding!" Zelda grasped the piece and turned away from Zant. He looked hurt, but backed off, respectfully. Link still sat shocked, which I immediately pointed out to Zelda, who rushed over to heal his hand.

Without looking too closely, I observed that his hand didn't look as badly damaged as mine had been, for many reasons I was sure. He wouldn't be lying in a pool of his own blood for hours, waiting for death before someone attended to his wounds, so I was sure he would regain full use of his hand. Not to mention Zelda was the healer on hand, not a farm boy turned hero with no experience.

Zant, feeling uncomfortable in light dweller affairs, faded into the shadows, but I remained standing just a few feet away from Link, staring blankly at nothing. After a good hour or so, Zelda finished healing Link's wound and with a huff of anger left. Link had remained awake during the entire process, but it didn't look like he was going to last much longer.

I approached him slowly, but he didn't look at me until I came to a halt next to his bedside, within an arm's length. The familiar warmth from his deep blue eyes seemed to have vanished as he gazed back at me without emotion.

"Zelda said she's going to find a way to return my Triforce," he stated plainly.

"I won't let her," I replied with equal disinterest.

He turned away from me to stare at the wall across from him before responding. "When you returned, I had thought it would be for the better. I never though you came here just to help Ganondorf, but I was wrong wasn't I?"

I hesitated to answer. On one hand, he was correct because really that's all I had been doing so far. First I allow Ganondorf access to the Light Realm again, then I return his Triforce piece, while unwittingly also giving him a way to easily kill Link. Everything so far had been my fault, my doing, in a sense, but in another I was just another victim.

All I had wanted was to return to the Light Realm—only briefly—to talk to Link. Just talk, and answer some question that desperately needed to be asked. Like why I broke the mirror _and_ left. Even though I believed Link understood that I shattered the mirror to stop the flow between the Light Realm and Twilight Realm, I don't think he understands why I had to leave.

To him, my people were nothing. To me, shattering the mirror was choosing between family and friendship. No matter how strong your friendship is with another person, you always choose family first, but what if it was more than friendship? What if the real choice was between family and true love? That was a totally different scenario, and one I couldn't deal with at the time.

"Link, I'll always be by your side. I made a few mistakes, and this was the only way I could fix them," I explained, choosing my words carefully.

"Midna, I don't… understand… how all this happened?" he half-questioned, half-stated.

I closed my eyes, no longer able to look at him, even if he wasn't looking at me. How _did_ this happen? When did it all start? I thought back to the day I resurrected Zant, then to the anniversary of the mirror shattering, through the attack on Hyrule Castle, and the Triforce's mysterious magic. A magic that could bind souls just as easily as it tore them apart.

I was never meant to hold the golden power, and this was why. Sure, Link and Zelda of the past could create the bond, but leave it to me to screw it up. Gritting my teeth, I finally opened my eyes only to lock gazes with Link. Unlike other times, though, I felt nothing in his stare. Just a mistake, an accident, and it meant nothing—not anymore.

"Get better soon, Link, Hyrule needs you again," I told him before turning on my heel and walking out the door without a backward glance.

Zant made himself known before I was even outside of the Castle Town limits.

"You're so lucky Zelda has everyone working on the castle; if someone had seen you come out of that shadow, we'd be in trouble," I reprimanded him, mostly on reflex. I had to explain these kinds of things to Link; I never thought I'd have to lecture Zant, too. Then again, I never thought I'd talk to Zant again. In many ways I wish I had left him dead, like now.

"What's going on with you and the wolf?" he asked obnoxiously. I punched him in the nose, receiving a satisfying _crack_ in response. "Ow! It was just a question, no need to break my nose!" He howled in pain, jumping in circles.

"Well then, learn your place, and stop being a freaking gossip," I told him coldly.

Zant stopped hopping around like a buffoon. "You are the princess of the Twilight Realm," he thought out loud. "All you need to do to get anything is snap your fingers, and someone will bring it to you on a silver tray. If you really wanted that wolf, you could force him to return with you to the Twilight Realm and seal away our realm again," he concluded. "So why don't you?"

I sighed in frustration. Reformed psycho or not, he still couldn't possibly understand. What did I really expect though? He was a servant to my family; he had witnessed for himself how our family rules. We do what we must, when we need to, but otherwise it's all about _us._ My father was a prime example. He took the first woman he found to conceive an heir, and then dumped her like she was meaningless. He never stopped to think that I might want to know my mother, or that he might enjoy her company if he gave her a chance.

He died alone, and I didn't want to follow in his footsteps.

I know now where my heart lies, but I will never know where Link's does. Now that he thought I betrayed all of Hyrule, and forcibly removed his Triforce (which I actually _did_ do) love would be the furthest thing from his mind.

"Zant, I'm not my father," I answered simply. He seemed unsatisfied with such a short response after the long wait, but did not press the matter further—a wise move on his part.

We walked on in silence, not really going anywhere particular. Soon enough the sun started to go down and I decided it was time to find Zelda. We ran into her outside of Link's temporary room.

"Midna, you're lucky you didn't kill him," were the first words out of her mouth upon seeing me.

"I knew what I was doing, thanks," I retorted. She stared me down, grinding her teeth. Zant looked nervous and was quick to walk off, distracted by a butterfly or something stupid like that. "Where's the Triforce?" I asked after Zant was out of earshot.

"Safe," was her one-worded response. I shrugged, knowing she said it in order to irk me, but refusing to give in to her small taunts. I turned to walk into the room, but she quickly caught me with a hand on my shoulder. "I don't trust you around him anymore."

"Well, I didn't know you cared that much, Your Highness, but I have a right to visit my friend," I replied, narrowing my eyes.

"Friend? Do you honestly think that he—or any of Hyrule—considers you a friend anymore?" she demanded harshly. "I suggest you leave, and never come back again, if you know what's good for you," she openly threatened. My temper flared; I shrugged her off and gave her a firm shove, causing her to trip over her feet a little.

"Coming here was an accident—obviously another mistake I'm going to be blamed for!" I roared in fury. "Besides, you need my people now; you need all the help you can get! All you have is a broken hero and a weakened group of pathetic, sniveling fools!" The insult hung in the air and a sour taste flooded my mouth. Spitting off to the side, I entered the room, slamming the door in Zelda's shocked face.

Link looked up from the book he was reading and smiled when he saw me enter. His broad grin quickly faded as he studied my face. "What's wrong?" I was taken aback by his simple question. I had thought for sure he would still be mad at me, or at least a little depressed.

"What's wrong?" I repeated dumbly.

"Yeah, you look a little upset." He tilted his head to the side, and gave me a puzzled look.

"Link… what's wrong with _you_?" I tried to sound as polite as possible, but this was a bit strange. He was acting like nothing happened.

"How do you know my name?"

"What kind of stupid question is _that?_" Not that I blamed him for messing with my head, especially after what happened, but now he was just acting like a brain-less monkey. Just as he opened his mouth to speak the door opened behind me, and I turned to see Zelda enter, looking perfectly composed.

"Midna, I need to talk to you for a moment," she said, ignoring Link's confused look. "It's about Link," she continued after a short pause. Reluctantly, I followed her back outside. Once the door softly clicked shut, I turned to barrage her with questions, but she beat me to the punch.

"I had to do a little more than operate on his hand."

"What do you—?"

"He doesn't remember you anymore, Midna."


	10. Blurred Lines

_Chapter Nine: Blurred Lines_

"What?" I screeched, flying into a panic. I felt a colorful explosion of emotions roll through me, but above all a great sense of confusion. When did she do this? While I was walking around with that idiot? Or maybe it was some kind of gradual spell—did she use a spell or was this merely a side effect of the removal? Had I in effect done this? No, that couldn't be because I hadn't lost my memory upon losing the Triforce. Granted I wasn't born with it, nor did I have a strong attachment to it. Aside from the odd connection I had accidentally forged between Link and I. That turned out brilliantly.

Perhaps he willingly lost his memory because he didn't want to—.

"Calm down and I'll explain," Zelda snapped. I visibly took a deep breath, closing my eyes for a moment to regain my senses. Asking myself random questions I had no way of answering helped no more than killing her would right now. Focus.

Seeing that I calmed down she elaborated. "I had to suppress his memories of you while you were gone. Just think about everything he's been through in your presence—" the urge to lash out at this grew almost unbearable, but Zelda saw this and quickly continued. "Don't worry, his memories will return on their own in good time. It is definitely _not_ permanent. However, if I had left his memories intact, well, just think of all the pains and the confusion he'd have to sort through. Then there's the shock… he has more important things he needs to take care of now, do you understand?"

Bitterly, I did understand. Hyrule needed a hero to lead them against Ganondorf and his army—whatever happened to fill the ranks of that army. I nodded my head slowly, and asked, "Does this mean I shouldn't come around here anymore? That I should avoid him?" I wouldn't be surprised if part of her motivation wasn't only Link's life, but also her need to get rid of me while she dealt with Ganondorf herself.

"Quite the opposite. Despite your rather _peculiar_ actions, you are a key part of his lost memories. Having something familiar to hold on to will help him regain his previous state of mind a bit quicker."

"Why do you want him to regain what you took away in the first place? Won't they cause the same so-called 'shock' either way?" I asked, folding my arms defensively.

"There may be many painful memories in what he lost, but he also lost everything he needs in order to defeat Ganondorf," she explained calmly.

I snorted once at her word choice. "So in other words, you need _me_ to train _your_ hero _again_."

"To be frank, yes. After all, you know best what training he went through the first time around."

Should I tell her that most of what he learned he did so on his own? I gave him some guidance in terms of what our next step was, but I had to, after all I was the puppet master, in a sense. He had found the courage to fight monsters, with little to no previous experience, within the Triforce. I chose to make one last quip instead, "I'm surprised you really trust me after all of my _'peculiar' _actions."

"I'm not saying I do. All I'm saying is that we could both benefit from destroying Ganondorf, body _and _soul, once and for all."

Royal blood coursed through my veins, my father's veins, and his father's father's veins, but one thing never came naturally to us: an ability to fix bad relationships. In a moment of clarity I felt this truth all around me, more than ever: the Twili's and Light Dweller's relationship was hostile, at best; Zelda's and my relationship, ironically, hostile; Link and me, just forget it.

I sighed. "Agreed."

"Glad you could see it our way for once," Zelda muttered as she turned to enter the room and check up on Link. I hadn't missed the way she said 'our way' instead of 'my way.' Few Light Dwellers could accept the Twili, and she had been among the few who did. It seemed that was no longer the case, though.

The journey was long, emotional, and it had worn on all of us, but it was about more than just us now. After all, royal blood coursed through my veins. Inability to take a look at relationships on a personal level maybe so, but hadn't we Twili managed to get along just fine all this time? Maybe it was time to stop looking at the smaller picture and take a step back. To defeat Ganondorf – truly defeat him – we would need to band together, all of us: Hylian, Twili, and with any luck, the goddesses.

_I can help you._

I stopped dead in my tracks, my irritable pace halted by the unfamiliar voice in my head. Again. Why does this keep happening to me?

_You must take the chosen Hero to the Gerudo Desert. _

Voices in my head were nothing new, but this voice was significantly different. Not in the sense of how it sounded (although that contributed), but rather the way it felt. The presence wasn't intruding, but comforting and…

Forgiving.

_Take one more chance on this destitute situation you call the Realm of Light. There are many battles yet to be fought, and only you can return to the Light its ancient hero. He is in no condition to face the challenges before him._

I sighed aloud. Training Link was by far an impossible task for me, in the sense that I could guide him enough in order for him to be prepared and pick up on all the skills he lost. But what about me and how I would feel through all of this? Link may not remember a thing, but I remember it all, painfully well at that.

_You've not done a fraction of enough to reclaim what was lost to your people. To truly earn redemption this is the task you must complete, whatever pain it may cause you. After all, you are the Twilight Princess._

How could I argue with that? Link may be lost to me, but I still had a strong sense of obligation to my people. They deserved to be returned to the light; I couldn't selfishly choose to deny our people their only chance at feeling soft grass and warm sun once more.

Look, "mysterious" voice, I will train Link, but only because I want to help him. Not because I owe my people anything and certainly not because I owe the Light Dwellers anything. Don't think for a moment you have control over my actions just because what I happen to choose on my own aligns with your wishes.

_So be it._

* * *

Several days of rest passed for Link. While I waited, I carefully watched the construction of Hyrule Castle and the surrounding town, wondering as always what the next step would be.

On the one hand, Ganondorf remained priority, but I needed to do something about the Twilight that had leaked out. All I could do for the moment was send Zant back. He had left a couple of days ago to start working on, literally, solidifying the army.

The option of sealing off the Twilight Realm again popped into my mind once, but I quickly rejected the thought. Although it was true that Ganon probably wouldn't have much interest in my realm once he acquired Hyrule, there was still that small chance—that risk—that he would set his goals higher. High enough to engulf the entire universe in his mad quest for power.

It was better to stay with the Light Realm and fight him together now, rather than risk standing alone against him later on.

Aside from that, I did the only useful thing I could do in the Light Realm: sit here in Link's room and wait for him to recover. I owed Link for all that he had done, even if the rest of the Light Realm could burn to the ground for all I cared. Especially Zelda.

"PMSing?" Zant questioned, slinking out of a nearby shadow.

"Shut up," I growled. "When'd you get back?"

"I'll take that for a 'yes' then," he replied, as he sat down on the chair next to me. "Just now. I organized the solidification process back home, as you requested. A moment of silence passed before he spoke up again. "So how is your wolf?"

I turned my attention to the door on my left before responding, "He's getting better much quicker than expected."

"So when will you leave to hunt down the scumbag?" An evil glint came into his eye, and for a moment I wondered if he was still just as crazy as before.

"As soon as possible," I replied. "Although I am a bit worried about what should happen if we find Ganondorf right away."

Zant spat off to the side, as if just hearing the name of his former master made him ill. "I don't see why you should worry. Sure, he's been in bed for a while now, and maybe he'll be a little stiff or sore but—."

"—He doesn't remember anything," I said, cutting him off.

Zant looked puzzled. "He doesn't remember? How'd he get amnesia? Was it from removing the Triforce? Maybe there's some kind of connection; perhaps it's some kind of defense to protect the—!"

"—No."

"Would you stop interrupting me like that?"

"Sorry, had to that time. You were getting that crazy let's-experiment-on-something look."

"I have a look like that?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes. Yes you do. Trust me."

"I am kind of surprised though," he commented, changing the subject.

"Surprised?"

"Yes. Despite all of the vast knowledge I have on Ganondorf, no one has bothered asking me about him," he explained thoughtfully.

I felt the sudden urge to slap myself.

"Why didn't you mention this to me sooner?" I growled. Link stirred in the bed several yards away. "Come on, we're going outside." I grabbed Zant by the collar of his robes and dragged him outside, into the open-roof, stone passageway. Down further, deeper into the castle, this hallway led to an antechamber of the grand ballroom that was currently receiving finishing touches. The opposite way led to an open courtyard and exit.

"Let go of me; this is no way to treat me after how well behaved I've been," Zant complained like an angry child.

"Shut it! Now tell me what you know about Ganondorf that could be helpful to us!" I demanded

"How can I tell you anything when you just told me to shut—," he started to give me a smart comeback, but one warning look set him straight. "I honestly don't know if anything I know will be useful to you anymore. Ganondorf is proud, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't likely repeat the same plan twice. However, he may try to meet certain, previously unmet, goals." Zant paused and looked up at the sky thoughtfully.

For a fleeting moment I understood, truly, the reasons behind his insanity. Then again I suppose all of my people missed the sun on some level or another. "What do you think he's going to try to do exactly?" I pondered aloud, half asking.

Zant's face turned grim as he turned his head away from the bright sky. "He'll need another army, but I have no idea where he could find a truly loyal one. He used our people last time, but he couldn't do that again without us knowing. The only other option would be to recruit the Hylians. Is that possible?"

I couldn't answer him right away because I wasn't totally sure myself. My knee-jerk reaction was no, of course not. They wouldn't be stupid enough to trust someone so evil, but that evil might not be apparent to everyone. In fact, the only monsters they saw during the last major invasion were my people. The only Hylians who knew Ganondorf was behind it all were Link and Zelda.

"It's possible," I replied severely.

Zant turned to face me. "Well, this could be a problem."

* * *

Link's hand was well enough for him to travel, and whatever had been plaguing him had passed without permanent harm, physically speaking.

I decided the first step to recovering my beloved wolf's memories was a trip to the Twilight Realm, since we now had an accessible portal that wasn't a total gambit. I brought this up with Zelda who, of course, immediately shot the idea down.

"No."

I let out a sigh. Patience.

I tried again, putting a logical twist on my argument. "Look, he doesn't just need to lead your people; he needs to lead mine as well. Just like your people are paranoid of the Twili, we're a little mistrusting when it comes to Hylians. He's our Blessed Beast just as much as he's your Legendary Hero."

I unfolded my hands and leaned on the desk we were situated at, breaking my good posture.

At first she didn't say anything, although she wasn't one to simply blurt the first thing that came to mind. She mulled over the thought for a few minutes, and I could practically see the gears turning inside her dainty little head.

Another minute passed and finally she responded, sitting up a little straighter in her chair, "You have a valid point, but I have no reason to trust you'll return with him totally intact or even at all for that matter."

I bit back a frustrated sight and sat up straight. "I wouldn't gain anything from forcibly changing him or whisking him away to my realm permanently. He'd be a pain to deal with in either of those cases."

"So my reason for trusting you is…?"

Her tone made me want to jump up and slap her upside the head. Why were Light Dwellers so stupid at the worse of times? "Look, you asked me to train him, so we do this my way or you can do it yourself." Feeling triumphant I leaned back, sure that I couldn't be countered again.

"Very well then." I let out a sigh of relief as she rose from her seat, queuing me to stand as well. "I'll be bringing a new trainer around this afternoon, so please do yourself a favor and clean up before he arrives."

I felt my jaw fall open in surprise. She _must_ be kidding. "Are you serious?"

"Perfectly." With that final word, she walked smoothly past me, exited the room, and gently let the door fall shut behind her. I stood too stunned to process my next move right away.

How could she even begin to think that anyone but me could train her hero anyways? I thought about chasing her down and telling her as much, but then I again, watching this new trainer of hers might be kind of fun.

If there was one thing I could use, it was a bit of comic relief from all of this insanity, so I decided to take her advice, clean up, and wait for the arrival of my so-called replacement.

True to her word, just a few hours later a large Hylian, sword in hand, stepped inside the room with Zelda waltzing in after. I couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at the buff physique of the swordsman. Did she honestly think Link was up for this? I had a lot of faith in him, of course, but even I knew it was crazy to expect him to be able to wield a sword.

"Midna, this is Link's physical trainer," she explained, as if it weren't obvious already. "Sir Garth, this is Princess Midna, a visiting diplomat. Her people originally trained that man over there, but as I explained, he is in need of a refresher course. I trust you'll set a reasonable pace and have him back in top condition in just a few days."

A few days? Sir Garth and I both looked over to where Link snored softly on the bed, his hand still wrapped up, without any appearance of being ready for intensive training. Had Garth not been present in the room I would have chewed Zelda out for being so stupid and reckless—besides, stupid and reckless wasn't really her thing.

I really had to bring up her odd behavior later; something definitely wasn't right with her. I thought back to the time we—Link, Zelda, and myself—had been walking through Hyrule field when she suddenly stopped and made a ridiculous demand of Link. Something about cleaning himself, I think, but I knew it wasn't really worth stopping for when we had been in such a rush.

I glanced over at the ruler of Hyrule with sudden trepidation. I had been so focused on my behavior that I never stopped to think about how others around me might be acting even more out of character.

It had, after all, been Zelda who mentioned my actions as being peculiar and turned Link on me. I never really explained to Link what had happened, beyond telling him that I had removed his Triforce out of necessity. How could I have been so stupid and blind all this time?

"Midna," Zelda snapped, breaking my frustrated and uneasy train of thought. I couldn't do anything about it now anyways, for now I had a role to play, at least until I could provoke Link's memories to return.

"Sorry, what were you saying?" I asked, relaxing into a façade.

"I was just saying why don't you wake him up so we can get started?" I glanced over at Link's prone form.

"How about we let Garth do that, I don't think it's proper for me to take on such a task," I replied with a small, impish smile. Zelda frowned a little but, true to form, nodded her head and gestured for Garth to continue. I almost felt bad not mentioning my real reasons for avoiding the task of waking Link up, but then again, I didn't really owe Garth anything and I needed to prove to Zelda that I was the only one who knew enough about Link to train him.

"Sir Link?" Garth questioned the unconscious Hylian. Nice try but it takes more than that to wake him up. Garth stretched out a hand to shake Link awake and I thought briefly how lucky I was to have a front row seat.

As soon as Garth's hand fell on Link's arm Wolf-boy jerked upright and swung his right fist—mindful of his injured left—nailing the unsuspecting trainer in the nose. I had to give Garth some credit, he stumbled back, but he didn't topple over. Although, to be fair, if Link had been at full strength then Garth would have been laid out flat.

"Oh my," I murmured with a small smirk. "I should have warned you; he is very quick upon awakening. I must say, quite the rarity, a Hylian that can snap to action so quickly. I honestly did not think he had the strength to act so violently though. My apologies Sir Garth." Rubbing his no-doubt sore nose, the knight nodded and grunted before walking back to Link's bedside. Persistent, I could admire that.

Zelda, meanwhile, stood off in the corner of the room shaking her head slightly. I knew had we been alone she would've snapped at me about retaining information and injuring her soldier; I could practically hear her teeth grinding from across the room. Smirking triumphantly I couldn't help but think that maybe having Garth around wouldn't be so bad after all.

* * *

After a while Link clambered out of bed, got dressed, and started some awkward exercises to gain better use of his right hand. Sir Garth had so kindly pointed out, in gruff tones, that, "Your left hand's pretty much trash, so let's just work on your right for now. Maybe with some luck you'll be able to pick up a sword in a few days."

His ego had, apparently, been bruised worse than his nose earlier.

I felt bad for Link; it killed me to see the hurt in his eyes when he looked at his hand. Two ironies made the situation bearable, though. First was Garth underestimating Link's strength, and second was knowing that while he looked upset, he really had no idea how his hand had been injured. More than likely he was just confused and maybe a little frustrated.

By the end of the day, however, I had changed my opinion about one matter: he was more frustrated than confused.

Garth left him with a few encouraging words: "Well, at least you're trying." I'm almost sure that he actually didn't mean the words as a harsh rebuke. I think Link had impressed him throughout the course of training that day, but it was apparent to everyone present during the training that Link was far from able to take on anything more vicious than a target dummy.

Zelda couldn't stay for the entire training session obviously, so she had left within the first hour. Garth had then turned and walked off to the temporary barracks at the end of training several hours later, leaving Link and I alone in the courtyard.

Once he thought everyone was gone, Link dropped all his gear on the ground and fell to his knees. I wanted to go over and comfort him, but I resisted for a moment. He buried his face in his hands and let out a frustrated half-sob, half-sigh, and not for the first time, my heart went out to him.

Deciding he had beat himself up enough I walked over to him, approaching him from behind, and clearing my throat before speaking. "Training's tough, isn't it?"

He glanced over his shoulder to glare at me briefly before answering. "It shouldn't be, should it? I feel like I should know all of this already." He paused and unclenched his fists. "Do you know what I'm forgetting?"

"Yeah."

"But you can't tell me?"

"Yeah."

"Of course." He let out another frustrated sigh and slapped his hands on his knees. "Well, I'll get them back, but…"

I waited patiently for him to finish, but after a long moment he still hadn't said anything. "But what?" I asked cautiously.

"I'm confused. The last thing I can remember is being in a spring, talking with dear friends—friends who are like family to me—but after that everything gets fuzzy. I just wish I could at least pinpoint how long ago that was. Right now I feel like I'm just floating in space, not tied down to anything." He shook his and stood up, stretching his undoubtedly sore muscles. "All Queen Zelda told me was that I had an important role to play and I needed to slowly regain my strength and memories. She said everything would make sense after I got my memories back, but she couldn't tell me how long that would take." He stood and turned around to face me, smiling sadly.

"It must be hard on you," I murmured, growing uncomfortable in his familiar-yet-not presence.

"It's a little tough, sure, but like I said. I just wish I had an anchor point, you know? I don't even know if I can trust what anyone here says," he remarked, trying to keep a light tone.

How could I help what came out of my mouth next, with him standing there looking so handsome in the falling twilight? "I want to be your anchor point." His grin suddenly fled, replaced by a shocked expression, slack-jawed and the whole bit. The tips of his ears went red as I nearly literally bit my tongue.

Oh Din, why did I just say that? I quickly tried to alleviate the awkwardness of the situation. "I'm going to be helping you regain your memories, I mean. Don't get the wrong idea," I huffed, feigning a slight irritation.

To my surprise and delight, he actually gave a chuckle. "You're pretty feisty for a princess."

I laughed along with him. "You have no idea." After a moment I offered my hand to him. "I don't think we were properly introduced. You can drop my full title and just call me Midna."

He reached out and gripped my hand. "I'm Link and I'm starting to have the sneaking suspicion we've met before."

"You'll find out soon enough, now won't you?" I replied mysteriously. He cracked another one of his wolfish grins and I felt my heart skip a beat. Just as I was about to comment on the twilight now flooding the courtyard, we both turned to the sound of panicked footsteps racing towards us, interrupting any further conversation Link and I might have had.

I felt my stomach drop like a rock as I saw Zant rushing towards us.

"You need to come home right now," he said in explanation, not even giving me a chance to question him. "Bring your puppy if you want, but we need to go _now_."

I made a spur-of-the-moment decision that I would probably regret later. "Link, you remember Epona right?"

"Yeah, but what would she be doing around here?" he asked, turning his attention away from Zant who he had been staring at.

"How do you think you got here?"

We quickly fetched Epona from the stables, much to Zant's irritation. I explained to him where the twilight curtain was located and we took thundering off, Zant leading the way several shadows ahead.

I rode along inside Link's shadow wondering what else could have possibly gone wrong at this point.

* * *

When we arrived I wished, not for the first time, that Link could join us in the shadows. Epona was fast enough, but there was still a great deal of time to be saved through an alternate means of transportation. Night had settled in by time we arrived at the curtain.

Zant quickly went through, not thinking twice about it, but Link paused uncertainly.

Link was still exceptionally brave, despite what his left hand currently lacked, but he was also noticeably more hesitant and cautious. "Come on Link," I prompted.

He gazed at the curtain with more than a little uncertainty; he had no drive to plunge through the twilight. Not wasting another moment to convince him, I went ahead, figuring he would come if he wanted on his own time. Right now I had something urgent to deal with. I caught up with Zant at the palace after crossing the border.

"What's the meaning of this Zant? Did something happen with incantation? Are there Twili running amok in the Light Realm? Did you find Ganondorf? Is someone dead?" I demanded rapidly, throwing everything out that came to mind.

"Worse," he answered. "Take a look at this." He pointed to a peasant who, judging from his attire, came from a further out province.

I turned to regard the scared looking fellow. "Speak, please." Zant quirked an eyebrow at me, probably because of the genuine politeness in my voice.

The peasant kindly removed his shoddy hat and spoke solemnly. "I was at my home, three provinces from the castle, when I saw…" He paused, looking down at his feet as if unsure how to go about telling his news. "A cloud."

My temper flared and I turned on Zant. "Is this some kind of joke?"

He gave a frustrated sigh in return. "No, just listen for Din's sake!"

We both turned back to the peasant and I gestured for him to continue, prompting him, "What about this cloud?"

The Twili licked his lips nervously. "It was great and black, kind of angry looking, and every time it made a rumbling noise that shook my small home… light came from it." Several things happened at once then: Zant muttered a curse under his breath; I clenched my fists and bit down on one in order to resist the urge to scream; and Link came stumbling up the obsidian stairs in his wolf form, causing the peasant to gasp in genuine reverence.

I motioned to one of the guards a moment later. "Take this peasant to the guest quarters; we may need more information from him later, so see that he's properly cared for." The guard snapped a quick salute and gestured for the peasant to follow him. Once they were out of the room, with the door locked tight, I let out the curse I had been withholding. Link looked at me curiously and with some genuine sympathy.

He had no idea what was going on—yet—of course, but he still felt the need to comfort me. I relaxed a little. The situation may have been dire, but then again, for all we know—or rather what we _don't_ know—everything may be perfectly fine. So long as I had Link by my side was there really anything to worry about?

Even when the situation had been dire in the past, he still came through for me.

Zant tapped his foot impatiently. "What are we going to do?"

I pondered for a moment, vaguely looking at Link as I did so. It would be nice if he could speak. Memory or not, I still wanted to hear his opinion on the matter. He had good instincts. Though, before I could even ask him about the situation I had to assess it for myself first. "We need to go take a look for ourselves."

Zant scoffed loudly and Link sat still, ever confused. "You want to waste time running out there to witness what we both already know it is? What are you going to prove by going out there?" he demanded, gesturing wildly. "It's a waste of time! We have to prepare here and save as many people as we can—we can go into the Light Realm!"

"No!" I snapped, surprising both Zant and Link. "We were banished from the Light Realm; we haven't earned the right to go back there to save ourselves."

"What's gotten into you Midna?" he shouted. He paced anxiously, still ranting and gesturing. "We _have_ earned the right to go home—we found that spell and we made it work!"

"The goddesses made it work so we could supply troops to their precious Light Realm!"

Zant stopped his frantic pacing for a moment to stare at me, shocked at first, and then his expression grew furious. "Why do you continue to insist you owe those Light Dwellers anything? Is this still about him?" he asked, gesturing towards Link. "He's here Midna, now let the rest of them perish, just like they stood by and watched us fall into a never-ending twilight!" Link's head whipped back and forth between us, his confusion only growing.

I held up my hand and took a deep breath. Zant was right about one thing: I couldn't waste time, especially not arguing with him. "We're going outside the curtain—back to the Light Realm—again." Just as Zant opened his mouth to protest I held up my hand again. "I need to talk to Link and get him out of the way first. Having him along, confused as he is, will only slow us down in the long run."

Zant mulled this over for a moment before nodding in the affirmative. "Very well then, but let's make this quick."

We took off heading for the curtain once again. Luckily it wasn't all that far from the palace, so we arrived there and I transformed Link back before Zant had time to whip himself into an utter panic mode.

"Okay Link, listen up," I told him. "I can explain all of this better later, I'm sorry I can't do as much right now, but as you heard we're having problems over there."

"Where is 'over there,' exactly?" He questioned, frowning in confusion.

"I told you I can't explain right now, but I swear I will when I get back. You're going to have to make your way back to the castle without me." I paused for a moment. "Actually, you can camp here for all I care, just stay out of trouble."

"Wait," he said, throwing his hands up in the air. "At least tell me what this big problem is."

"Storm clouds are rolling into an outlying province," I replied, Zant and I both flinched at what this could mean for the people there.

"Why's that such a big deal?"

"Because, Link," I replied grimly. "It never storms in the Twilight Realm."

* * *

Zelda sat on her temporary throne, brushing off flecks of dust from the nearly immaculate armrest. Up until a short while ago she had been sleeping peacefully, but a throbbing pain in her left hand had awoken her.

Initially she wondered if perhaps the bond forged between the Triforce pieces could be carried through the generations, but the possibility was quickly dismissed because of the general nature of the Triforce. The volatile, ever-changing, ever-lasting Triforce couldn't maintain a bond that strong without an outside influence, such as one of the people who had formed the bond.

Midna's mistake had cost them dearly, but not for the first time, she wondered if they all had not acted too irrationally.

She had stayed up late examining the courage piece of the Triforce for many nights, but she still wasn't sure if she could remove the tainted bond from it. Maybe removing it in order to save Link really was the only way. If only they had known more about the strange bonds sooner, then maybe they could have stopped one from being formed in the first place.

No, probably not. The bond still would have been formed, but maybe if they had been a bit more knowledgeable, then the Triforce of power wouldn't have been handed to Ganondorf once again. She couldn't honestly blame Midna, after all she wasn't meant to ever have the Triforce piece in the first place, but it was hard to go about with a smile every day without blaming someone.

_That's what the ball is for._

'Oh,' Zelda thought to herself, hearing the familiar voice in her head. Well, actually it was coming from the Triforce piece in her hand. 'I thought I heard you calling earlier; I'm sorry I was sleeping.'

_Not to worry. How's progress?_

'Quick enough,' Zelda sighed aloud. 'But I do wish I could understand the point of throwing a big party for everyone in the midst of all of this.'

_It will help morale and it may bring certain people together who need to be together, as much as you and I don't like it_. Zelda shifted in her throne, adjusting so she could better examine the other armrest.

'Yes.'

* * *

Link decided in the end to wait for us at the palace, saying he'd rather be in his wolf form and enclosed safely than in his human form out in the open. I had to admit, it was probably safer if nothing else. The guards and servants walked continually past his room, just to get a good look at the beast of legend.

Of course I was informed of all of this after I returned with Zant from the outer province. There was a storm brewing, no doubt. I quickly decided to assign several of the land's finest sorcerers to the area and placed Zant in charge, telling them to watch for significant changes in the clouds and people who lived in the area.

Zant had been madly opposed to the idea, still insisting that we use the spell to help the Twili escape. I might regret not listening to him later, but for now the greater risk lay with the Twili running untamed in the Light Realm after all this time. It wouldn't be difficult to mass apply the spell, but it could have an as-of-yet unseen side effect. Worse than that a conflict could spark between the Twili and Light Dwellers.

It wouldn't take much for a small argument to inflame into a much larger conflict. If one of my people were injured or killed, even if it was merely a misunderstanding, then I would be expected to act. The last thing I needed on top of everything else was a full-blown war with Zelda.

Granted I think the Twili would win, what with the Light Realm being half dead already, but I still wouldn't be happy about it exactly.

_Why haven't you arrived in the Gerudo Desert yet?_

This was the last thing I needed to be pestered about. Look, I'm trying to get him there, but I do have to train him along the way.

_That will be unnecessary. There is a cavernous space in the desert, filled with challenges. Only a truly prepared hero will reach the final level._

What if he doesn't reach the end and he fails? You want me to lead him there just to perish?

_If he should perish, then so be it. He was not the one meant to take on this task._

I am not leading him to some dead-end trap to kill him off. I said I would train him, but I also said that I'm doing that my way. Not yours, not Zelda's, not anyone else's.

The voice fell silent and I let out a frustrated sigh, turning to Link who had been standing by patiently waiting. "Sorry, I have, uh," I hesitated a moment. "A lot going on in my head." Link merely nodded in return. "Wow, no questions? I'm surprised," I remarked, sitting down on a nearby rock, figuring he must have some questions I could answer now.

His original adventure with me wasn't part of the forbidden part of his memories. Zelda had warned me to be careful with the information I fed him, making sure it was 100% accurate lest he get his memories back and have discrepancies within them. She also decreed that no memories including the shattering of the mirror and onwards were to be disclosed.

"It's not normal for Hylians to turn into animals," he stated plainly.

"No, it's because of your—," I was about to explain how the Triforce allowed him to transform instead of turning into a spirit when I glanced down and saw his bandaged hand. That's what we had assumed originally, but he didn't have the Triforce within him anymore. I knew he didn't—I removed it myself. What's going on?

_It's connected with the storm. The Twilight Realm's barriers are collapsing. His deep connection with the Triforce, despite not being in possession of it currently, coupled with this allowed him to maintain his beast form within the curtain._

I opened and closed my mouth several times, uncertain whether to tell him what we originally thought or feed him this new information. "Well, you're special and it's kind of complicated. How it works, that is." It was far from a great response, but it was the best I could do for the moment.

Mostly because I wasn't even sure myself anymore. Although it made me wonder, if this is what happened with him, then what happened with the other Light Dwellers?

"Was this why Zelda wanted me to help, rather than someone else?" Link asked, snapping me from my pondering.

"Yes. Even with your hand messed up like that she believes you're still the hero to lead both of our worlds against Ganondorf and his army," I responded, happy to actually have an answer to give him this time. Link, who had been staring at the twilight curtain, walked over to a log across from me and plopped down.

"When are we going back to the castle?"

I glanced upwards. The trip to the Twilight Realm and exploring the emergency had taken the entire night, the sky was steadily growing a light blue now. "We need to go back soon," I responded, still looking thoughtfully at the sky. "You need to train to get your strength back up, and Zelda's throwing that ridiculous ball in a few days."

Link chuckled a bit at this. "Is the ballroom even finished?" he asked. "I mean, I haven't really been outside that room, so I have no idea the shape the castle's in; all I know is that the palace was basically decimated in an attack recently," he went on to explain.

I nodded, looking back to him. "It will be ready, after all, where there's Zelda there's a way."

He gave me a wolfish grin and shook his head slightly. "I wish I could have helped with the re-building. What was I doing while all of those people were working so hard without me?"

Kissing my clone, I wanted to say, but that would probably be a no-no on Zelda's list.

Instead I told him, "You were back home, making sure everyone was safe." I thought for a moment before adding, "Zelda let you stay there, maybe because she knew you would need the rest for whatever upcoming battles you had to face."

"That's nice of her, I suppose, although I wonder why I stayed here so long," he pondered aloud. "It doesn't seem like me to rest while others are hard at work."

"It's not," I admitted. "But you had been through a lot prior to that, and you needed the mental break as much as the physical." I smiled at him. "Trust me, you did more than your fair share of the work along the way."

"Ah." He looked over to the rising sun and his expression became confused again. "Won't Zelda be mad that we ran off without telling her?"

"What?" I looked at the rising sun as well and realized there was now no way we were getting back to the castle before Zelda came looking for us. "Oh. Yikes. We have to go, now."

Link laughed, totally unperturbed by the idea of Zelda's wrath, stood up, and stretched out. "Well, let's get going then."

* * *

We mad our way back to Hyrule Castle, Link happily oblivious, me debating how best to argue my reasons with Zelda. That and, of course, the upcoming ball was on my mind as well. I had spoken with Zelda about it during the time Link had been recuperating, yet…

I could not fathom the reasons behind this. The queen insisted that the ball continue as planned, despite everything going on, "In order to maintain calm while we figure out the best course of action against Ganondorf." I was supposed to act like nothing was wrong while waltzing among Hyrule's populace.

I pointed out that I would probably stand out just a bit, but she reassured me that it would all work out. I just had to keep up the story of being a foreign ambassador.

I didn't even bother pointing out that Hylians were particularly xenophobic at the moment.

The one up side to going to this little party was knowing that Link had been requested to attend as well. Knowing what a perfect gentleman he tends to be, I knew he would be there for everyone's sake but his own.

I was going so that someone would be there for his sake and sanity.

Link was a nice guy, of course, but when it came to the high life of nobles and courtly manners he was as helpless as when I found him in that dirty cell. He wouldn't realize or admit it, but he would need me tonight. I rolled my eyes, what would he do without me?

Link's earlier question had me thinking back to the time when my alter ego, the so-called 'evil Midna,' had taken over. Link had fallen for her—hard—did that mean he actually loved me at some point throughout all of this insanity? Maybe the seducer had just been that good at what she did.

I thought about how I had watched from a shadow that was only supposed to be mine as he sunk deeper into her lies. Confessing—doing—so much he could never have said to the real me. I thought bitterly to myself how I wouldn't have kissed Link's alter ego. No, I wouldn't have made that mistake, though he certainly did. The tender touching, the soft-spoken words, the feeling of wanting so badly to turn away and run without end and not being able to.

We never really had a chance to talk about what had happened.

When he retold the story to me from my perspective he didn't mention what he had done with her. Maybe he was ashamed or embarrassed, or maybe he just thought it was none of my business. Either way there was no point in worrying over it now, after all he didn't remember anything for the time being.

Tomorrow night at the dance, I prayed to the goddesses, if we both need to pretend for Hyrule at least let us not pretend to each other. Thing were going to be said that night, with or without Zelda's approval. Although, how Link received those words was only up to him.

I broke from my muse as we arrived at the gates of the castle, finished early on in the re-construction process. I stepped out of Link's shadow and stopped him. "Home sweet home!" I exclaimed giving him a wry smile.

He opened his mouth to respond, but instead turned his head towards the castle, frowning. I looked to see what had caught his attention and saw a couple of royal guards rushing towards us. I let out a sigh, wondering if all of this was really necessary when Link commented, "Well, looks like Zelda was expecting us."

I couldn't help laughing.

The guards marched over to us and explained that Zelda had, "requested our presence," in her throne room, so we obediently followed them. It actually felt kind of weird taking orders and not doing our own thing, but we both knew—even with his memory loss—that facing Zelda and getting an earful was inevitable at this point.

I could tell she was in a particularly bad mood when the guard didn't even bother entering the room with us. Normally he would've escorted us in and then been dismissed by Zelda, but apparently she was in no mood to put up with formalities.

Link—brave soul that he is, Triforce or not—opened the door and stepped inside first. As soon as I walked in the guard pulled the door shut, leaving us to Zelda's brewing fury. I put on my best fake smile as I approached the throne and said, "Greetings Zelda. I trust construction's going well?"

"Sit," she commanded, skipping all formalities as expected, and gesturing towards two seats in front of the throne where she sat. Link and I did as she asked, and under her fiery glow, I found myself rather relieved that the chairs were placed fairly close together.

There was something rather comforting in Link's nearby presence.

Once we were settled in she started in on a speech that I'm fairly sure she'd been practicing while waiting for us to return. "I cannot believe you directly disobeyed my orders and took him to the Twilight Realm." Her hands clenched the bare-wooden armrests as she worked herself up.

"I had no choice," I defended. "He wasn't feeling too good about being the hero without any memories, and Zant told me I had to leave right away. I couldn't just leave him there feeling dejected." Normally I'd fight Zelda tooth and nail to prove I was right, but I didn't want to anger her to the point where she kept me from attending her stupid ball tonight. I clenched my own hands together and waited for her response.

She sat silent for a long moment, but I could tell by the look in her eyes she was only calculating her next move. "Link, you may leave. You didn't really know any better, I suppose."

My temper flared as Link stood up. "You're going to treat your favorite hero like a child now?"

Link started to walk towards the door, and I could tell he was trying to avoid listening to anymore. "He _is_ like a child right now." Link suddenly stopped, hand outstretched towards the door.

"Zelda!" I snapped. "_What_ is your problem?"

"You are! And Link! And this entire kingdom!" she shouted back. I could only stare appalled at her; I had never seen her so angry before, let alone imagine her blaming others. Then Link did something neither of us expected _him_ to do.

He dashed across the room and up to Zelda's throne before either of us had a chance to register what was happening. Suddenly there was a sword at Zelda's neck, and for a moment time seemed to slow down.

This isn't happening. This can't be happening.

Link's voice was low and grave when he spoke after the longest minute of my life. "You can blame your birthright, you can blame me, but don't you dare blame Midna. I may seem like a child to you in my current state, but even this _child_ knows she's dealing with just as much as you are."

Then, just as suddenly as he had rushed up to her, he demounted the throne. Neither Zelda nor I managed to speak again until the door slammed shut behind him.

"Oh what have I done," Zelda breathed, crumpling in her seat. She rested her head in her hands, looking for all the world like the young woman with the weight of the world on her shoulders that she was.

"Zelda, I'm sorry. I know—," I started to say, but she cut me off with a wave of her hand.

"Midna, you and I both know you're not to blame. There's just been so much stress since you returned, and barely a year after the events from the twilight invasion had settled down at that." She let out a gentle sigh and sat up a bit straighter in her throne. "I know you're trying to cope as best you can, just as I am."

I glanced away from the throne and said, "It's fine. You know I don't want an apology." I looked her in the eyes. "But you can't do that to Link."

She laughed a bit, a tired, exhausted sounding noise. "Isn't that funny?"

A bit irked I asked, "What's so funny about that?"

"Even without Link remembering you, the two of you have already re-forged your bond," she explained. Then she smiled softly and asked, "You two would do anything for each other wouldn't you?" I didn't even have to think twice.

"Yeah, we would."

* * *

After the end of our conversation Zelda avoided Link and I as much as possible with the excuse of helping with the final touches for the ball. The next day passed all too quickly for my liking, and pretty soon I found myself sitting in a room I had been assigned, dressing for the evening's big event. As I prepared myself physically I tried to organize my thoughts.

Zelda had informed me, as she stopped by quickly to make sure I would still be in attendance that I needed to stick to my visiting diplomat story, and if any problems cropped up to just seek her or a royal guard out. She also told me that she had not been able to find Link and she was no longer certain he would show up.

Of course she apologized profusely for this, recognizing the problem as her fault. Not that it helped me find Link, but hearing an apology I could pass along to Link might help, should I find him. Zelda had quickly rushed off after she fed me this information, leaving me to decide between attending the ball or seeking Link out.

In the end I decided to head down to the ballroom, just in case he showed up there and had just been hiding from Zelda. I stuck to the edges of the grand room waiting for him to show up. I glanced around the ballroom and watched the many nobles dancing with their spouses, trying to pass time.

I stood there in a dark corner for some minutes before I noticed the stranger walking toward me. I watched him with a guarded expression. He didn't look quite like a noble, but he still looked incredibly elegant—far too much so for one of the many commoners, who had also been invited, that much was certain.

"My Lady," he greeted me with a bow. I simply stared at him with a steely look in my eyes, carefully taking into account his appearance.

Something about him bugged me more than it should have. His singsong voice along with his messy, blonde hair that spiked out in all directions, scratched on the edges of my memories. It was almost like I had met him before, yet not. Gentle green eyes, that reminded me of the forest after a peaceful rain, waited patiently for me to finish my inspection.

His tanned face certainly represented one who spent a rough life in the wilds, but just looking at his clothes you wouldn't know that. He was dressed in elegant black-leather pants and dressy boots with a vest of the same material over a silken shirt as black as pitch. The oddest part of his outfit was a black leather collar around his neck with a single blue gem hanging from it. The materials were rich, obviously not peasants' clothes, yet they were in the design of a rogue.

"What do you want from me?" I asked cautiously. His answering grin reminded me of the wolfish ones Link would give me while transformed. I felt a chill run down my spine.

"I just came to chat; it's always good to mingle with the royalty," he purred. I frowned at him with disapproving eyes.

"Mingle, yes. Flirt, no," I replied coldly. His eyes went wide at this, surprised by my comment for a moment before chuckling.

"Oh, no, please forgive me I didn't mean for it to seem like that. I am taken as I know you are and have no intention of changing that tonight." He smiled pleasantly at me. I grew even more nervous than I already was. I didn't like this creep but I couldn't exactly kill him in front of all of Hyrule's nobles, and I suspected he realized as much.

"Look cut the idle chatter, monkey," I said in a stern voice I typically reserved for unruly nobles in my own realm. I would've called him a dog, but my experiences with monkeys were much less pleasant. "Tell me what you want so that I may be left to my own company once more."

He frowned a little bit, obviously upset his little game was being cut down to size, but with a shrug of his shoulders he agreed.

"I was sent here by the orders of my master," he began, his face becoming serious as he spoke softly yet urgently. "You see, Twilight Princess, we all have our own destinies as I'm sure you know. Your destiny is quite magnificent; I would know as I've seen it with my own eyes. However a fear was raised where I'm from and so I've come to quell that fear."

I shook my head angrily. He was still dancing around the point, harassing me. He held up a hand, beckoning me to be patient. He obviously didn't know as much as he claimed about me if he thought he could calm me with a simple gesture.

"A dark force interrupted your destiny you see," he continued. "One unexpected I must add. The trust you have with your partner is something invaluable and critical to your destiny, but that trust was sadly interrupted by this great evil."

"Wait," I said quickly. His story was starting to intrigue me. "My partner? You mean Link?"

He nodded his affirmation, "Indeed the very one. I have come to rekindle trust within you so that you may rekindle it within the Hero of Light. Though I cannot say much I will say that it is of utmost importance that you trust yourself. Hesitate not and never doubt that your words nor your actions are correct—at least not for tonight." He smiled gently at the last remark.

"I never doubt what I do is right," I replied vehemently. "And I trust Link a great deal—certainly more than you."

He laughed softly at this, "Dear one, you can tell that lie to all around you, but you cannot fool me. More importantly you cannot fool your Hero." He paused and smirked at me. "Just because he made a mistake… well don't we all make a mistake or two from time to time?"

I was caught off guard by the way he so casually referred to not only me, but Link as well. I was almost certain I had never formally met this man, and something told me Link had never met him either, so how did he know about us? More importantly, how did he know what occurred between Link and I? He couldn't know about the clone and my kidnapping. Not unless…

"Who are you to tell me such things? You don't know me and you certainly don't know Link," I accused him, folding my arms across my chest.

He shrugged once again. "No I do not think that I do, but my knowledge is not to be discussed here tonight. Alas time runs short as the Hero of Legend approaches. Farewell, Princess, and may all your nights be as pleasurable as this one."

With this last comment the man, dressed so strangely, melted into the crowd, and I swear by Din his blonde hair started to darken as he walked away. Though I pursued him quickly, I still lost sight of him. Confused and, to be honest, quite peeved, I started to search for Zelda. Being the queen of this realm she would surely know of every noble in the land within several generations by memory alone. I caught sight of her in the center of attention, of course.

I approached the crowd self-consciously, being the only Twili in attendance. I had invited Zant to come along, but he had laughed like a madman at the suggestion. "Queen Zelda, may I speak with you for just a moment?" I asked, interrupting a robust noblewoman. "I will be hasty," I tacked on as an after thought. She nodded and excused herself from the center of the crowd.

"Is something wrong?" She asked fearfully. I shook my head and saw her roll her eyes. Picking up habits, perhaps?

"Midna, I don't have time for jokes," she stated plainly.

"Of course not," I snapped. She frowned at my tone.

"You know what I mean," she replied quickly.

"Yes I know," I said with my voice taking a much more appropriate tone. "I didn't pull you over here to fight. I was wondering if you knew of a noble or any higher-class man with blonde hair, emerald eyes, and very dark skin. He dressed in all black with a strange collar around his neck holding a blue gem from it."

Zelda's brow creased as she thought about my description and ran through a list of nobles in her head. After a minute she slowly shook her head and looked back up at me.

"He sounds quite distinct from most other nobles I know of. Had I met him in the past I'm sure I would remember him now. No, I'm quite sure he is not of my court," she replied matter-of-factly. "He didn't harm you in anyway?" She inquired.

It was my turn to shake my head, "No, he only spoke with me, but he left me feeling a bit of unease." I let out a sigh; maybe I was just growing paranoid. "No matter, enjoy your ball, thanks for the time." I was about to walk off when Zelda spoke up again.

"By the way Midna, Link just arrived and was looking for you," she said hastily to my retreating back. I paused but didn't turn around. "He requested that I send you to the front doors of the room should I run into you, that's all." With that Zelda stepped away lightly, returning to the throng of nobles in the center of the room.

* * *

Link was looking at the ground shuffling his feet as the nobles passed him by, whispering and pointing at him. I felt a pang of guilt go through me; I probably could've taught him a thing or two before the ball so he wouldn't feel quite so left out.

Then again we hadn't been able to really speak before the ball, what with his training and then the emergency trip to the Twilight Realm. Not to mention Zelda's outburst.

"Hey," I said loudly, punching him in the shoulder. My loud words and rough action worked as I had intended. Link immediately straightened up and grinned at me.

"Hey Midna I was looking for you," he said pleasantly, still grinning from ear to ear. I swear he could act so young at times.

"So I heard," I replied coolly. "Can you dance?" I saw the tips of his ears go red and he looked down, but he nodded nonetheless.

Making our way to the area reserved for dancing, I couldn't help but glance sideways at Link. I'd never really seen him dressed in anything other than his Hero's Tunic, with the exception of the Zora armor, but that didn't really count.

I must admit, he cleans up well; his messy, dirty blonde hair had been tied back, though his bangs were left untamed and nearly fell into his eyes. Adorned in a nice white, silk shirt and black slacks along with a fresh pair of boots, he actually looked like he could be a natural-born nobleman.

He awkwardly offered a small bow before wrapping his arms around my waist. Obliging, I placed my hands on his shoulders and grinned at him.

"Now, where would a farm boy learn to dance?" I questioned impishly. "And more importantly, since when did he know how to dress up?" He scoffed a bit and laughed nervously.

"Ilia," he replied, my nose wrinkling up in slight disgust. He barked another quick laugh. "I mean she taught me how to dance; the clothes I just found lying in my room, I guess Zelda set them there for me.

We slowly circled around the dance floor, not really caring if we stayed in step with the music or not. I kept my eyes on Link, but he refused to meet my gaze—looking everywhere except at me. I sighed softly, and he misinterpreted as frustration.

"I'm sorry about what I did yesterday," he insisted softly. "I really have no idea what came over me; I don't think I've ever been that violent before in my life." He paused and his face clouded over with uncertainty. "Although, maybe I was violent before and just don't remember it yet."

I shook my head. "Oh, no Link. Don't think that." I looked up and met his eyes. "You only ever did the right thing, even though it was hard at times."

He looked away and chuckled bitterly. "Is that a clever way for saying I'm right?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No, it's not." He met my eyes once more, something akin to admiration in his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he replied, and then he fell silent as we circled for a few minutes. "Midna?"

"Mmhm?"

"I remembered the first time you were here." I jerked to a stop, throwing Link off balance and catching him off guard. I had misread the admiration in his eyes earlier: it had been curiosity. He had re-acquired nearly half his memories and was testing me to see if I would lie to him.

"How much do you remember?" I demanded a bit too loudly.

He glanced around at some of the nobles and peasants who had stopped to stare at the scene we were causing. I caught Zelda's eye from across the room, and I could practically feel her irritation from where I stood. So much for not drawing attention to myself.

"Midna, let's go talk outside," Link suggested. He took a step back, breaking the contact between us before offering his arm. I took it as expected and he led us out the great wooden doors to the castle courtyard.

* * *

We walked calmly out of the room, but as soon as we were outside I stopped him. "How much do you remember?"

He held his hands up. "Midna, I don't remember as much as you think. Please, can we sit down and talk about this?" he requested sensibly. I nodded stiffly and followed him to a stone bench set in the middle of a freshly planted garden. A massive fountain ran nearby, although I could only see the tip of it over the tall hedges.

Link sat down next to me, a respectful distance away. For a brief moment I wanted to growl in frustration; I over-reacted in the ballroom. I had no idea what he remembered, but if he remembered anything that would've upset him would he really have shown up at the ball and sought me out?

"Link, I'm sorry, I don't know what got into me back there," I apologized, not looking at him and clenching my hands on my lap.

"It's okay, I shouldn't have dropped something like that on you in there," he amended nobly.

"So what _did _you remember?" I asked once again, this time calmly.

He leaned back on the bench, relaxing now that we were both on the same page again. "It's just little parts," he explained. He didn't say anything for a while after that, but I waited patiently, sensing he had more to say. Finally he asked, "Somewhere along the line… did you ever care?"

The question took me off guard. Not so much the question itself, maybe, so much as the fact that he was actually asking.

"Somewhere along the line? What do you mean?" I inquired with genuine interest.

"I've done this with you before haven't I? I feel like… I get déjà vu all the time when I'm traveling with you and I keep wondering why. I think we've done all this before, maybe not exactly, but something very similar to it. And on top of that, even before we started running around doing all this crazy stuff, you already knew me, but I had no idea who you were. Did you care back then?" He sat up straighter, turning to face me, determination in his stern, blue eyes.

"I don't know what you're talking about, back when?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Hopefully he would drop it if he thought I wasn't going to give him any information. So much for my earlier determination to speak openly with him tonight.

He made a frustrated noise in the back of his throat. "Back whenever we did this the first time!" he exclaimed, irritated.

I let out a sigh and rested my head against my hand. "We actually got along pretty poorly the first time around… till closer towards the end."

"What happened at the end?"

"I… left." Suddenly I realized I was about to have the conversation I would've had, if I had chosen to tell Link that I was leaving prior to actually leaving.

"Why?" He paused. "I mean did you just not like it here? Were you forced to leave? Did something bad happen…?" He winced a little before voicing his next possibility, "Did I do something?"

"Oh, Link you never did anything wrong. You were my best friend; you saved your land and you saved mine. Even after you knew I had forced your hand in so many ways, when I was at my lowest point, you didn't turn away like others—so many others—would have. You stayed with me, you saved me, and you saved my people, my home."

I felt my eyes water up a bit. _Keep it calm, keep it calm… don't get him wound up._ "Link, you mean a lot to me. You're my best friend. When I left… When I told you I would see you later I was lying at the time, and I've regretted that ever since."

"You weren't going to tell me good-bye though," he insisted suddenly.

I threw my hands up and leaned back. "No, I tried to leave you with the hope that we might meet again, and it was wrong of me to place that false hope, okay? I admit it, I was wrong."

He gave a frustrated sigh. "No, I mean… you weren't even going to even say that. You started to say something else."

"You remember that?" I swallowed nervously. What else did he remember? How much did he remember? And when did this happen exactly? Was it coming back to him as we spoke?

"Don't worry," he reassured. "I just remembered you leaving just now. But I remember it really clearly: you were going to say something else."

"Don't be stupid. What else was left to say at the end of all of that?" I scoffed, looking away from him.

"All of what exactly?"

"It's your job to remember!" I barked back irritably.

"You're really grumpy—and avoiding my questions," he smirked.

"Forget about it!" I growled in frustration.

"I did!"

I did the only thing I could do in a situation like this. I let out a huff of breath angrily, stood up, and started to walk away.

Of course Link jumped up after me. "Wait, Midna. I didn't mean to make you mad."

I paused my angry march and let out a defeated sigh. "Don't worry about it," I muttered, deciding I couldn't avoid this conversation. I turned around and walked back to the bench. Sitting down I said, "You don't remember yet, but I probably deserved it in some greater cosmic sense anyway. I wasn't kind to you."

"Maybe not at first."

"What do you mean by that?" I gave him a suspicious look. Did he remember more in light of my outburst? Probably nothing good, if that was the case.

"Well you told me earlier that I'm your best friend. You must not have hated me all the time."

I shrugged indifferently and turned to look at the hedges—anything but him.

I felt Link's hand fall gently on my shoulder. "I know I shouldn't ask, but I have to know."

I turned around and snapped at him, "Why do you need to know anything?"

"Because I have to know myself before I can know whether or not I can save the world like everyone's expecting me to. I can't know myself without knowing my friends," he explained.

"You're you." I shifted my body in order to properly face him, and he let his hand slide from my shoulder. "If there's one thing I can tell you in complete honesty and a hundred percent assuredness it's that, memories or not, people don't change all that much."

He gave me an exhausted smile. "Why are you so stubborn about telling me what happened?"

"Because nothing happened and you don't get that!" I shouted, balling up my fists.

"I just want to know what you were going to say!"

This was turning into the earlier conversation all over again. "I wasn't going to _say_ anything!"

"Yes you were!" He reached up and trapped my face between his hands. "What were you going to say?"

"Why's it so hard for you to just let this go?" I whispered, feeling an uncomfortable heat creep up my neck.

"I told you: I need to know this!" He leaned closer. "This memory needs to be complete; it's the only one I have!"

I looked away from him the best I could with my head trapped between his hands. "It _is_ complete! I _never_ told you what I was going to say!"

"So you _were_ going to say something!" he smirked triumphantly.

"Just stop it Link!" I glared at him again. "It has nothing to do with you!"

"It has everything to do with me! It's my memory!" he argued. "Besides, didn't you yourself say that you regret what you did? This is your chance to fix it so _fix it!_" he reasoned. "What were you going to say?"

"I—," I hesitated. I couldn't help it; he had no idea the weight of what he was asking. I couldn't tell him then in those final desperate moments, what made him think I could tell him now?

"Midna!" He leaned closer still and I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore his proximity. "What were you going to say?"

"I love you!"


	11. What was Lost

_Chapter Ten: What was Lost_

"I love you!" I blurted.

For a long, antagonizing moment, he sat completely silent.

"What?"

I stood up, flight instincts kicking in. "I—nothing. We should get back inside; Zelda might notice we're missing and get worried. You know how she can be, paranoid to an extreme," I babbled, standing up and turning away.

Link quickly stood up and blocked my path. "Now hold on just a minute Midna!" As I tried to maneuver around him, he grabbed my shoulders and pinned me against the tree behind the bench we had been sitting on. "Why are you always running away from me?"

"I'm not running away from you!" I insisted, struggling futilely against his overwhelming strength.

Link let out a frustrated sigh that was almost a laugh. "Not running away?" He shook his head in disbelief. "You ran from me at the mirror chamber and you're trying to run from me now!" He dropped his gaze from my eyes, down to the ground. "But I won't let you this time," he muttered.

"Link, I—!" Suddenly his head snapped back up and I had only a moment to register the resolve in his eyes before his lips were on mine. After a too-short moment he broke away.

"Stop running from me."

Breathless, I whispered, "Link…" We stared into each other's eyes for an endless moment, and just as I was about to add something more there was a rustling in the nearby bushes, which caused Link to jump back from me.

A royal guard came out from behind the hedge, stern-face, but overall neutral. "Her Highness has requested you re-join the guests in the ballroom," he said in a monotone, directing the comment at me.

"Very well," I replied in a surprisingly calm voice. The guard snapped a salute and walked off.

The previous mood and odd moment forgotten, Link turned back around with a small, sad smile on his face. "How much am I forgetting?" he asked no one in particular.

I smiled ironically. "Some things are best not remembered."

"Some things are never really forgotten," he replied before turning and walking away, back to the ballroom I assume.

What was that just a moment ago? It did happen, didn't it? He actually kissed me right? He had acted like nothing happened though. I groaned aloud as I started walking back towards the ballroom, sincerely hoping this wasn't going to be a constant part of the memory retrieval process. If so, we had a long, long ways to go.

When I re-entered the ballroom everyone had gathered in the center of the room, surrounding a figure I recognized as Zelda, whom was standing on some kind of pedestal. An eerie hush pervaded the room, but I wasn't acknowledged when I entered the room. I stopped far enough away from the nearest Hylian, but still close enough to hear Zelda.

"We are in the midst of dark times, once more," she declared. No, really? Suppose the hole in her castle had gone unnoticed. "In these desperate times we sometimes take desperate measures to ensure the survival of not only ourselves, but of all good people who exist in other realms as well." A murmur rippled through the crowd, some confusion apparent.

Zelda ignored this and continued. "We have an ambassador here among us who has offered her people's strength in case of an emergency. We have witnessed and survived that emergency. A great enemy looms ahead, but it waits not knowing that we have in store for them not only the might of Hylian steel, but also the mystic power of the ancient Twili."

Did she actually just say… Wait what?

Zelda looked directly at me, for just a moment, before she continued on. "Some Twili will be joining us here at the castle shortly, and their story will be told at that time. Until then I encourage you to spread the word, and prepare yourselves. War looms and it is with heavy hearts that we march towards it."

Another murmur rippled through the no-doubt confused crowd. A few glanced my way, probably because they had heard I was the ambassador she spoke of.

Zelda dismissed the crowd, thanking them for coming tonight, and vanished from the group. I managed to find a guard and ask him where she went, but he wasn't exactly cooperative at first.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but Her Highness is rather tired and does not wish to be disturbed," he explained in a stuck-up tone. For a fleeting moment I wanted to jab his eyes out, but then Link appeared beside me.

"Is there a problem here?" he asked with a gentle yet some how dangerous smile, wrapping an arm around my waist. I felt my heart skip a beat. Since when did he grow so comfortable being intimate?

The guard, looking suddenly uncomfortable with Link towering over him, quickly shook his head. "No problem at all, I was just about to show your friend here to Her Majesty's chambers."

"Excellent I'll tag along." Link smiled even more and added, "That won't be a problem, will it?"

"Not at all, right this way." The guard glanced around nervously before leading us out of the ballroom and down several passageways.

After a short time we arrived at Zelda's supposed chambers and the guard scampered off before I even knocked. He probably wanted to avoid getting in trouble for bringing people here.

As soon as he left, though, I was extremely conscious of Link's presence. I quickly knocked on the chamber door to escape the heavy mood that started to settle around us. Curse it all; he was right about running away.

"Come in."

We entered the room to see Zelda sitting in a comfortable-looking chair near a balcony, with a couple of guards posted along side the doorway, on either side of us.

I paused and glanced up at Link. I didn't want to chase him off, but this probably wasn't a conversation for him to hear. "Link, I actually need to speak to Zelda privately if you don't mind."

Zelda quirked an eyebrow at me, and Link frowned for a moment before bouncing back into a chipper smile. "Okay, I'll wait for you outside."

"Why don't the two of you wait outside with Sir Link," Zelda suggested to the two guards. The nodded gruffly and Link followed them out, the door shut softly behind him. Zelda didn't bother waiting for me to speak. "That was rather odd. I would think that you'd be highly apt to spending as much time as possible with him."

"Well, it's hard to talk about him when he's standing right next to me," I quipped.

Zelda gave me a puzzled look. "Has he been sticking close to your side since the two of you ran off to the Twilight Realm?"

"Not really," I admitted. I walked further into the room, plopping down on a soft chair. "I didn't speak to him after we got back until tonight."

Zelda stood up, walked over to the table I had sat down at, and pulled up a chair of her own. "So what happened tonight?"

"That's what I'm wondering." Zelda rested a hand on her chin and I sat up straight, debating how to word the events of the evening. "His memory is coming back to him, but it's all really fuzzy for the time being."

Zelda thought this over a moment before carefully responding, "That doesn't seem to require such dramatic pretenses."

"He remembered Arbiter's Grounds very clearly tonight."

Zelda's expression turned grim. "Which time?"

"The last."

She released a long-drawn sigh, her expression turning grim. "What did he say about all of this exactly?"

I thought back to my earlier conversation with Link. It wasn't so much a conversation as… what _was_ that exactly? "He said he keeps having bad cases of déjà vu, and…"

I shifted uneasily in my chair and Zelda leaned forward, interested in every last detail. "And what?" she prompted after a long moment of silence from me.

"He kissed me."

The room was silent for a long moment as Zelda digested this, thinking of a response or reason. "What did you tell him about Arbiter's Grounds?"

"The truth."

She looked up at me, shocked. "You mean you told him…?"

"Yeah." I nodded my head. "I told him that I—was going to tell him I love him."

"Did you tell him you still love him?"

I sputtered for a moment before responding, "No, of course not! Why would I do that! And you didn't answer my question from earlier."

"Were there any other incidents of physical contact?"

I blushed at the way she phrased the question, which she noticed, of course. "He put his arm around my waist earlier, but he acted like he didn't even realize what he was doing."

Zelda rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe he didn't."

"What?"

"I told you once before Midna, your feelings for Link would probably have been returned, had you told him back then." She paused and folded her hands on her lap. "I believe what you're witnessing with him is physical memory."

"And that would be…?"

"When someone loses their memory, they tend not to remember everything right away or even remember anything at first. The first sign that memory is returning is physical memory starts to show up," she elaborated, a far-off look on her face, like she could read the book she was reciting from.

Zelda smiled a bit, thinking about the complexities of the human mind I guess. "So what is physical memory exactly?" I queried.

"It means his body will remember before his brain recognizes the action as an old habit or part of a suppressed memory."

I opened my mouth to protest with the obvious "we've never kissed," but then I recalled an event that seemed like a lifetime ago. A kiss we shared when we formed our wretched bond.

"Okay, so maybe some of the actions I can understand, but what about the general following-me-like-a-puppy-dog act?"

Zelda laughed at that. "Because the most pivotal point of his memory loss revolves around doing just that. The two of you traveled all over Hyrule together, being close to you means being close to his memories once again."

She stood up and stretched delicately, walking over to the open balcony once more. "You may even learn more about his feelings for you, and whether or not he returned them during your adventure."

"You're saying he'll physically show me what he was feeling during our adventure in order to work back to his old memories?" I asked, admittedly a bit nervous.

"It is possible," Zelda replied with the ghost of a smirk on her lips.

She turned towards the open balcony and the unasked question lingered in the air between us. How would I receive these so-called "physical memories?" I pushed the question aside, for now. I had to ask Zelda something else while I had her mostly alone.

"Zelda, how have you been?" I asked plainly, carefully watching her reaction.

She turned to face me once more and merely seemed a little surprised by the sudden change of subject. "I have been well enough, all things considered."

"Are you sure? You've been acting a little off, like with this entire ball tonight," I explained. "It doesn't really seem like you've totally been yourself." Then I caught it. That fleeting cornered look in her eyes that told me all I needed to know. She was hiding something.

"It was merely for moral's sake," she replied smartly, her face suddenly unreadable and her tone cold. "A little relaxation will help ease the coming days." I didn't miss the fact that she avoided my accusation.

I nodded slowly and stood up, stretching. We must have sat here talking longer than I thought; I was a bit stiff. Feeling that I had worn my welcome down I said, "Well, I should get going then, and let you get your rest. Din knows we both need some honest sleep."

Her icy demeanor melted away a bit. "Yes." We walked to the door and upon opening it found Link chatting casually with the castle guards. "You there, escort these two back to their chambers," Zelda commanded, catching one of the young guard's attention. He snapped a salute and we started our trek back to the rooms. Although Link threw an odd glance or two my way he made no attempt at conversation, and I was too absorbed in my own thoughts to say anything myself. We simply returned to our room in silence.

I decided along the way, after such a long night, it was probably best if I played along for now. Questioning Zelda's intentions and motives could wait for one more night, hopefully.

* * *

The next morning I awoke to an eerie feeling, which I quickly found out to be from Link sitting in a chair next to my bed staring at me.

"What the holy Hyrule are you doing?" I demanded grouchily.

"Trying to remember more," He replied. He paused a moment before adding, "I seem to remember more around you."

I sat up in bed, closed my eyes and remarked, "Just because you need to be around me to remember doesn't mean you need to stalk me while I'm sleeping."

He laughed.

Groaning, I slid out of bed and stretched. Eagerly, Link asked, "So what's on the agenda for today?" For a moment I had a strong sense of déjà vu and wondered if he realized how much like old times that question was. I looked again at his clueless, kind face and realized no, no it's just more physical memory if anything.

"Well, I'm sure Zelda has some kind of training or something planned for you. Why don't you ask her?" I walked over to a simple wooden dresser that set on the far side of the room. I must look like such a mess first thing in the morning like this; did he really have to sit around and stalk me like that?

I turned to face Link while I brushed out my hair a bit. He gave me a funny look, his face all scrunched up. "I asked her already and she said she had to talk to you first, so I thought you might know."

I shook my head, in effect yanking painfully on my hair, "Nope, I don't have a clue." I sighed and gave up on trying to look presentable. "Let's go find out."

With that we took off, but not in quite the rush we're usually in. We actually took the time to walk casually down the hallway, stopping occasionally to ask a guard for general directions. It was kind of nice, to be able to walk side by side with Link through the roughly finished castle like this. I suddenly remembered a thought I had long ago, about finding a man to marry in order to officially become the queen of my realm. I had thought for the longest time this involved finding someone who could take care of business while I sat back and relaxed, but walking side by side with Link I couldn't help but wonder…

Maybe this is how it's supposed to be.

I stole a glance at Link's expression from the corner of my eye. He looked happy enough, content even in his memory-less state.

We stopped at a large door, in fact the same door we had been led to when we returned from our impromptu trip to the Twilight Realm. Link reached up and knocked on the door, receiving the command, "Enter." He swung the door open and we stepped inside to see Zelda sitting on her throne looking bored.

She perked up a bit when she us. "Ah, just the two I needed to see," she beamed. Apparently the party had worked on some people's moods. "Also, glad to see you finally woke up, Midna."

I glared at her and she laughed. "Thank you, _Your Majesty_, now what are you plotting?"

"Plotting?" she echoed, laughing. "Well, I suppose you've caught me." I really didn't like the sound of this. "I actually just finished arranging your trip."

"My trip?" It was my turn to echo and I gave her a confused look as Link, meanwhile, shifted back and forth on his feet. Twitchy, mood-swinging Hylians.

"Well, more accurately, Link and yours." She clapped her hands and a guard entered the room. Where did she find all of these soldiers anyways? "I've made preparations for you two to take a little trip."

Link's ears perked up at this. "What trip is that?"

"One to train you," Zelda replied, all business. "Midna, I want you to take him to the appropriate places for him to train. There's only so much he can do here, and besides, his memories aren't here. They're all over Hyrule."

Excellent, he can go to the desert during this time and enter the cavern…

Oh would you give it a rest, I thought irritably. Where could I take him, though? A place that contained memories and provided natural training? All of the places we traveled to in the past flashed through my mind: Ordona was close to home with plenty of memories, but maybe too close for training; Faron woods contained plenty of training, but maybe too much happened there memory wise; Eldin had too few enemies; Lanayru Province remained fairly tamed and tourist friendly after we blew through; and that left us with two options.

The Gerudo Desert.

_Yes._

And the Peak Province.

_No._

I felt my eye twitch at the obnoxious voice in my head before answering, "We'll go to the Peak Province." Link nodded eagerly, up to his old energy levels and ready to do what it took to get his memories back. Zelda made eye contact with me, and I knew what she was thinking about. The night I had decided to abandon the Light Realm at the end of our original journey. The night I finally admitted my feelings to myself.

There would be plenty of monsters in the snowy wasteland of Peak Province.

Plenty of monsters.

* * *

Zelda had supplies and Epona prepared for us, but I had to request an extra man to come along. When she asked me why, I explained that he would have to take Epona somewhere safe and take care of her while we were on the mountain. This then raised concerns about my well-being, which I quickly culled. As I had explained, memories or not, I had confidence in Link's abilities to fend off a few rabid mutts. Of course _then_ Zelda had to ask why it was a good place to train if he could easily handle everything up there, to which I replied with one word:

Survival.

Although the physical monsters were fairly manageable, Link still had re-build his stamina, strength, and general endurance. The harsh conditions would allow him to do this, while I could always hang out in his shadow if things got too rough. And, as a last resort, we would camp out close enough to the yetis' mansion that I could go get help. After Zelda had finished asking all of her questions like a five-year-old child, we mounted up and rode off. Well, Link did. I traveled in the supreme comfort of his shadow, of course.

When we arrived at the entrance to the snowy area the first words out of his mouth were: "It's really cold."

It was going to be a long trip.

Link hiked up what trail was available, but before long he had to divert into open wilderness. Most everyone assumed there was nothing but snow, snow, and more snow on this mountain. However, if you knew where to look, there were plenty of caves for shelter, wood for fire, and animals for food and fur. It was now up to Link to either re-discover this or remember this.

He ran into a good stroke of luck as he found a cave pretty quickly. I jumped out of his shadow at this time to take a look around, shivering despite my upgraded wardrobe in the wintry chill. The cave looked good enough; at the very least it wouldn't randomly collapse on us. Link dumped the supplies on the cave floor, near the back, and headed out to find wood for a fire. Deciding he couldn't get himself killed that easily, I sat in the cave all cuddled up and waited for his return. There was something almost nostalgic about this cave.

Nostalgic and almost… too familiar.

I squirmed a bit and happened to glance down at the floor of the cave. Smooth, gray stone—practically frozen of course—with… scorch marks on it?

I leaned closer, peering at the dark marks on the cave floor. Sure enough, scorch marks from a fire. Was it possible that he had led us to the same cave he had led us to that night…? Did physical memory apply to simply walking around as well?

Before I could ponder this any further though, Link returned, carrying a spoil of firewood. "Got the wood," he chirped happily.

Smirking gently at him, "Great, now get a fire going; I'm freezing." Same cave or not, it didn't matter. I winced as an earlier thought came back to me; it seemed like I was already dealing with more demons than Link, but… I glanced over at his carefree face. Once he started remembering his past that could all quickly change though.

The fire roared to life and Link plopped down triumphantly. "This is really too easy; what was the point of coming out here again?" he asked cheekily.

I gave him a sad smile before responding, "Oh, I have a feeling you'll find out soon enough." But oh Din, how I wish he didn't have to.

* * *

Link woke up with a sudden jolt, panting hard and sweating despite the frigid weather, which in effect, jolted me awake. "Link what's wrong?" I asked worriedly.

He put his head in his hands and drew up his knees. "A bad dream, I think," he mumbled. He drew in a deep, ragged breath. "You… You were there, but it wasn't really you."

I settled back against a rock, growing nervous. "Link, are you sure it was a dream?" I asked gently.

He looked up at me, confused. "What do you mean?"

"Are you sure it was a dream and not a memory?" I asked, watching his face carefully. His eyebrows scrunched together in concentration.

"I-I don't know," he muttered, eyes meeting mind. "Maybe both?"

I nodded slowly. "Describe it for me." The tips of his ears grew red in embarrassment and I grew uneasy. All he had remembered so far was bad stuff. Maybe because they were more prominent and left a deeper impression, but that hardly seemed fair.

"I was back home with you, at first, and everything was fine, but then…" I could hear the pause as he edited his story mentally. "…Then I realized it wasn't really you and I didn't know where you were." He visibly shuddered at this. "Oh Nayru."

I had to ask something else to confirm whether or not it was a true memory, but I couldn't bring myself to ask him further details on the end of the dream. Instead I asked, "What was going on elsewhere?"

"Elsewhere?"

"At the castle or in the village, can you remember any of that?"

He thought hard about it and slowly nodded his head. "Zelda was at the castle; the village was safe. Just like you told me, but I can actually remember it." He paused as realization dawned on him.

"Link it's okay. That happened a while ago now, " I explained, defending the sketchy memory.

"But how? Where were you and why didn't—!" He gave a sudden grunt of pain and clutched his head. I started to stand up, worried, but he put a hand out to placate me. "I remember. You were kidnapped by… _Ganondorf_," he answered himself, injecting more venom than I thought he was capable of. "He tricked me and I fell for it," he growled.

I reached a hand out and placed it on his arm. "It's okay, Link," I lied. Of course it was torture and a bit difficult for me to forgive him, but that's just what Ganon wants. The least I could do now was act forgiving; after all, he may not remember it yet, but he had a lot to forgive me for later on.

Tears of frustration brimmed up around his eyes and a few fell, his hurt and disappointment overwhelming. Suddenly, surprising me, he placed a warm hand over mine, which rested on his arm still. He looked me dead in the eye for a brief moment before pulling me into a tight hug. "Oh Midna," he murmured in my ear. "I'm so sorry."

My hands rested on his sweat drenched chest, heart pounding, and eyes open in shock for a moment before I relaxed into his hug. "It's okay Link," I responded, resting my head on his shoulder. "It's okay."

* * *

"Link?" Zelda looked around confused. She was in a castle, one that felt familiar, yet she had never seen it before in her entire life. How had she arrived at this strange familiar-but-not place? She wasn't certain, but she did know that Link was here somewhere. If she could find Link then he could help her find a way out, or at least figure out what was going on.

_Because he always helps you. He always saves you, doesn't he?_

Zelda was many things, but a coward was not one of them. However, even her heart started to pound harder at the voice that was like an echo of her own, but somehow it was more… it was wiser. She saw a door to her left and opened it.

_Your kingdom bleeds, your hero doubts himself. What are you doing?_

Her heart went from pounding to racing so fast she could hardly feel it. Quickly she sought another doorway; the last one had led to a dead-end. "Who's there?" she demanded, her voice holding steady in spite of her fear. "Show yourself, coward!" She didn't need Link; she could handle this on her own. She found another door, this one hid a long passageway behind it.

_Is that so? Then bring your forces to the Gerudo Desert. The one you seek hides there, waiting for the opportune moment._

"Who waits for me?" she asked, walking down the narrow hallway.

_He is growing impatient, as am I-!_

A different voice suddenly cut in, _Zelda, don't listen to her. Wait for the return of your hero, he will save you as he promised long ago._

The other voice returned, _Don't be foolish. You don't have the time to waste. Strike now while your forces are strong and morals are at their peak._

The second voice argued back, _Don't listen to her! Zelda you must do what you know is right, what you know is tradition. Return the Triforce to the hero, and then strike at your fullest power!_

Finally, Zelda's already frayed nerves snapped, and stopped dead in her tracks. "The Triforce has _failed _us! It is tainted and impure and as useless as the memory-less hero is!" She spun in a circle, looking for the way out of the imprisoning room she suddenly found herself in. She screamed, "Let me out of this nightmare you _witches_!"

Her chest felt compressed and she was struggling to intake air, the room was shrinking. She rushed towards one of the walls and slammed her fists against the cold stone. "Let me out!" she screamed. "Let me out!"

A ghostly laugh answered, it was the first voice.

The second voice had vanished.

* * *

Link, after several hours, continued to toss and turn. Finally I took mercy on him and asked him a question I almost immediately regretted. "Link, what are you thinking about?"

I strained my neck to see his face from where I lay, on the side of the fire deeper in the cave; Link slept on the entrance side of the fire. His face turned red, despite the chill of winter that seeped in from the far end of the cave. "What I was doing while you were goddesses-know-where."

"Oh," I replied awkwardly. I felt a blush heat up my face.

Link looked over and smiled a bit at me. "I guess you know about that, judging by your reaction."

"Unfortunately."

"Where _were_ you?" he asked tentatively.

I hesitated, wondering whether or not it would be detrimental to tell him. "Well, you know Ganondorf had captured me; he was just torturing me." I glanced away from him, directing my gaze to a pile of unassuming gray rocks instead.

"Just," he echoed with a dead laugh. "I've been wondering about something else, actually." I could feel his stare on me, but I refused to acknowledge the curious look. "How did you get to this realm?"

"Which time?" I asked, thinking back. The circumstances had been very different in both cases, not to mention the feelings involved, but at the same time I kind of hoped he would ask about the first time instead. I rolled over to face him again.

He looked at me confused, thinking for a moment, before saying, "Oh, yeah. You left and I guess you had to come back some how."

Unthinkingly I focused on the hand his chin rested on, still wrapped for safety, but otherwise totally healed. I should've known better than to expect the odd look to go unnoticed.

"Do you know what happened to my hand?" he asked leaning around the dying embers of the fire a bit to get a better look at me. "I used to have a birthmark there, but now it's just a scar."

I winced internally. Of course he would notice that; he remembered everything up until the invasion of the twilight, and he had the birthmark long before that. "Well, your hand got hurt, so we had to operate. I guess the scar just hides the birthmark now," I answered, studiously not looking at him once more. The last thing I needed was for an askew facial expression to give away any lies I had to tell.

Did I _have_ to tell him any lies though? Zelda would kill me, of course, if I said anything, but watching Link regain his memories was almost painful. Like watching an injured animal try to walk. He would remember everything on his own, so even if I made a small mistake or two when I gave a recount of the events it would all work out. Plus the sooner we finished up his so-called training, the sooner I could lead my troops to Hyrule Castle and then to wherever Ganondorf was hiding. I was so distracted over my mental debate that I didn't notice how close Link had gotten until he spoke up.

"Midna," he whispered. I quickly snapped out of my revere to find him leaning over me, mere inches away. "Why does this cave look familiar, and why is it…?"

I felt my breath catch. Was this more of his physical memory acting up? If he vaguely recognized the cave it was certainly possible but we didn't—. "Why is it what?" I asked nervously, my own voice barely audible.

He leaned in even closer, close enough I could feel his hot breath on my face. My heart started to pound so fast and so loud I almost missed it when he said, "We've been here before."

My eyes went wide; what did he remember? I didn't have long to consider this because he finally closed the short distance between us. This kiss was unlike any we shared previous to it; there was a certain need behind it, a hunger that we hadn't had the chance to explore before. I think Link recognized this as well, memories or not.

I felt his tongue run along my bottom lip and opened my mouth in response, breath coming in short gasps. He broke away from the kiss and went to my ear, gently nibbling on it as a shudder wracked my body. He brushed his lips down my neck and I could feel them part into a small smirk. I ran my fingers through his soft hair, as he pressed a trail of kisses down my collarbone.

Suddenly he jerked away and a moan of pain escaped his lips as he reeled with his head in his hands. More memories. I sat straight up and scrambled over to him. "Link? Link can you hear me?"

He shook his head vigorously. "What is it? What is it?" He rested his head on the stone floor, curling up. "What is that thing?"

"What thing?" I demanded, grabbing his shoulders. "Link sit up, look at me." I felt him tremble violently under my grasp.

"There's a storm," he muttered, so quietly I nearly missed it. I leaned down and rested my head next to his.

"A storm?"

"It's dark, there's blood everywhere," he mumbled, shaking. "We're in the castle, but it's not the castle."

Castle that's not the castle? Unless… it was the old castle. He had never seen Hyrule Castle until after the twilight invaded. He was remembering the old castle, but what was—the night of the attack. The very night that the castle collapsed, fell under siege. "Link am I there?" I whispered, just loud enough to be heard over his panting.

He nodded minutely. "What is that _thing_?" he whispered back. The strange undead Hylian we encountered that night… I only ran into it once more after that, in the Twilight Realm. Suddenly I felt a chill race down my spine. Something was out in the snowstorm and it knew we were here. I swallowed nervously.

"Link, are you okay?" I asked, shaking him gently. "Come on, my wolf, come on! You need to pull yourself together!" It spoke leagues of his inherit courage and resilience as he nodded stiffly, and with one last great shudder, sat up.

"I fought that thing off, but just barely," he recalled. "What was it?"

His unwavering eyes bore into mine, searching for the truth. I glanced over his shoulder, towards the entrance. Hopefully I was just being paranoid. "We're not exactly sure, but it's possible—no it's highly likely that they belong to Ganondorf."

"_They_?" he asked, unbelieving. "There's more than one?" Oops. Right, I never had a chance to tell him about the one who attacked me back home.

"Unfortunately but we have bigger problems," I conceded. "I think there's something out there." I gestured towards the cave entrance, and Link leaned back to rest against the cave wall.

"Out there in that storm?" he asked doubtfully.

I shook my head. "Don't underestimate your enemies. Trust me."

He looked back at me, made eye contact, and said, "I do." For a moment I wasn't sure how to respond, but he snapped me out of it when he suddenly stood up.

"Wait," he muttered. "I hear it now."

"You do?" I asked, surprised. He held up a hand to silence me, focus still on the entrance. He reached for his sword and I had an odd feeling of déjà vu. Is this how Link felt all the time with me these days? No time to answer, though, suddenly a shadowy figure could be seen forging its way through the snowstorm, undoubtedly moving towards the cave.

"Stay back Midna," Link commanded. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"You may not remember this yet, but we're a team," I told him. I stepped up to his side and rested a hand on his shoulder. "Win or lose, we do it together."

He glanced over at me and gave a small smile. "Right. Now let's take care of our unwelcome guest."

We cautiously approached the entrance to the cave, but didn't step out into the snow. It would be suicide if they ambushed us, although I had the odd feeling that there was only one out there. Better safe than sorry. Link must have been thinking along the same lines because he asked, "Is there only one out there?"

I shrugged. "Hard to tell," I muttered, trying to get a better look. The figure stopped moving and we both peered closer. What was it doing?

"Get down!" Link yelled suddenly, tackling me. I barely had time to register that the creature had sprung towards us, and was now in the cave with us. Fighting one in a narrow space was almost as bad as fighting a bunch out in the open. It definitely had the agility over Link. I quickly scrambled out of the way as Link dove for his sword, which he had dropped in the process of moving me.

The creature's muscles visibly strained as it prepared to launch itself at Link. There would be no lucky shots this time—Link was without a weapon and without his wolf form.

The monster launched itself, and something seemed to click in Link's mind as he fell flat on his stomach, turned over, and kicked up just as the creature was above him. The thing was apparently light because it went sailing to the back of the cave, landing in the smoldering embers of the fire. Link scrambled for his sword and I tossed him his shield.

The strange Hylian-like creature shook off the embers and howled in rage. Apparently the hot coals had done nothing more than anger him. As Link prepared to defend himself I looked around, searching for something that would help him. All we had at our disposal was Link's weapons and some loose rocks from the cave. There weren't many materials or much space to work with.

I turned my attention back to the monster. Everyone had a weak point, so where was its? It looked just like I remembered from the attack on the castle, but there was something slightly different about it. What was it? It was so long ago when I saw it, and there had been so much going on at the time—!

The creature leapt atop Link's shield as he tried to block the rabid thing, throwing Link off balance and sending him tumbling backwards. If Link fell, it was all over. He wouldn't be able to defend himself.

Time seemed to slow as I focused on the Hylian creature. Its eyes were different. I could remember now. The last one had blank white eyes, this one had normal eyes, and his teeth didn't look razor sharp like the other one's. He was less feral than the first one had been. But that didn't save Link now. I quickly grabbed the largest rock I could manage and smashed it over the creature's head just as it was about to finish Link off.

He kicked the unconscious body off and scrambled back to his feet. "Holy Hyrule, is that…?" he half-asked, breathless.

"That's the monster from the castle. Do you remember?" I asked. Link stretched stiffly and took a closer look. I heard his sharp intake of breath as he recognized it.

"That thing… we have to kill it," he muttered, raising his sword up and slowly approaching the strange thing.

"Wait Link," I stopped him just as he was about to drive the sword through. "We need to see if we can communicate with him first."

Link gave me a look that reflected what I felt, but not what I knew we had to do. "You want to keep this thing alive?" he whispered in astonishment. "After all it's done to us?"

"Look Link," I explained, walking towards him and the strange creature, my eyes never leaving its twitching body for a moment. "I'm not saying we set it free; I'm saying we need to see if we can get any information from it first." Link let out a sigh and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, let's tie it up."

* * *

After we tied up the strange creature, Link started building the fire back up and tidying up the cave space, clearing it of debris from the fight. Then, several hours later, the strange creature woke up.

And it was mad.

Luckily we had agreed beforehand it probably wouldn't sit still and just have a nice civil conversation with us, so we had left it a safe distance from the fire. It rocked back and forth uselessly on the cold stone floor, screeching and howling. After a while longer it tuckered itself out and just lay there, looking annoyed.

"Let me go," he rasped, surprising both Link and I. Both of us had assumed he either wouldn't or couldn't speak. "Free me or kill me, but torturing me will be pointless. I don't know anything."

I glanced at Link who seemed content to sit back and observe. I walked over to the creature, which made Link anxious, until I grabbed the Hylian by the collar of his shirt and shook him. "You know who you work for, tell us that," I demanded, throwing him onto the ground.

He laughed and it sounded like someone coughing up rusty nails. "If you don't know by now, then you're stupider than you look." He appraised us a moment before adding, "And that's saying something."

"Chatty aren't you?" I remarked dryly. "Now tell us what we want to know."

"Fools," he spat. "The two of you and everyone else!"

Link and I exchanged an easily deciphered look: 'This guy's nuts.'

Link stood up and walked closer to the estranged Hylian. It didn't escape my attention that he hadn't set his sword down yet. "Whether or not we are is debatable, but we need information from you now and we will get it," he explained, as if that would help.

"So what?" the creature asked. "I tell you what you want to know and then what? I doubt you'll free me."

Well, he was right. We couldn't let him go, even if he gave us all the information we wanted. There had to be some way though. Obviously we couldn't hold him prisoner here for long, so getting him some place more secure was the next step. Would it really be wise to take him to Zelda though? Could she do any more than we could? No, we needed someone experienced with deranged lunatics. We needed…

Oh goddesses.

"Link," I called, getting his attention. "Can I talk with you outside of the cave for a moment?"

The Hylian cackled. "Kiss, kiss."

I zapped him with a bolt of magic, receiving a satisfying yelp in return.

Link followed me out, but we never took our eyes off the strange monster. "What are you thinking of doing?" Link asked, all business.

"We can't keep him here, but we can't let him go, right?" I started, waiting for Link to nod in the affirmative. "Well we can't get information out of him, but we need to, right?" Again he nodded. "We're taking him to a specialist I know of."

He gave me a weird look. "You know a specialist?"

"It's a long story."

Link seemed a bit uncertain, but if nothing else, at least he was trusting. "Okay, so what do we do for the rest of tonight?" We both peeked back into the cave.

"Well," I said, letting out a long sigh. "I'm not going to be getting any sleep myself."

"Yeah, me either."

We both looked back at the cave, then back at each other, and suddenly the events from earlier that evening came rushing back. My face felt like it was on fire, despite standing out in the frigid winds of the mountain. Link quickly looked away from me, and even in the dim light I could see the blush creeping up his neck.

"Uh, maybe we could talk a little," I suggested. "To keep ourselves awake and to fill in your memory a bit more."

"Wait, you don't mean—?" Link asked surprised.

"No! No!" I quickly corrected myself. "No, not that, I just mean talking!"

"Oh, right of course." Link and I made eye contact for a brief moment before we both quickly looked in opposite directions. "Uh, come on, let's get back inside," he suggested after an agonizing, awkward moment.

"Right," I agreed following him in. Another long night.

* * *

The Hylian apparently slept. After only an hour or so of mumbled conversation between Link and I, he passed out. He didn't try anything funny aside from restlessly squirming. Once Link saw he was asleep and not waking up any time soon, he raised his voice a bit and we held a normal conversation for once. Well, as normal as we get.

"So who is this specialist and how do you know him?" Link asked, leaning up against the stone wall of the cave.

I sat next to him and answered, "You actually know him too you just don't remember right now."

"Ah, that again," he grimaced. "So who is he exactly?"

"A reformed maniac, basically." I had hoped he would leave it at that, but he sat there expectantly looking at me so I expanded, "He used to be close to the royal family, the Twili royal family that is, but he had a falling from grace. Mostly he assisted Ganondorf in trying to take over the Twilight Realm and Light Realm."

Link stared at me like I had lost my mind. Probably not the first time the thought had crossed his mind, whether or not he remembered that. "He survived trying to usurp both kingdoms? There should really be a punishment in place for that."

I started to explain the situation and defend myself, but suddenly Link was back in the fetal position, remembering something regrettable, no doubt. Talking about different memories I found out, as the night wore on, tended to provoke remembrance.

"What was it this time?" I asked, waiting expectantly for the answer I knew was coming.

He gave me a strange look, but didn't seem upset exactly. "It was nothing." I raised an eyebrow at this, but apparently it really was nothing because he didn't bring it up.

Time passed and we sat in silence just watching the fire crackle, the only light on the entire mountain tonight. After a while I leaned up against Link's shoulder. He stiffened beneath my touch for a moment before relaxing. "What did you remember?" I murmured.

"It was nothing," he whispered back. "You already know everything I could possibly remember; is there really something that bad in there?"

I felt his head turn down to face me, but kept my eyes focused on the fire. "Link if I tell you sorry, would you forgive me?" I asked, drowsiness starting to get to me.

"For my hand?" he asked.

"For everything," I mumbled, feeling my eyelids drooping.

"I already have."

I felt myself slip into unconsciousness and I wouldn't realize it until much later, but I never mentioned his hand.

* * *

I never did like dreaming. The only useful things that ever came from dreams were prophecies of doom or messages of warning. This dream was a combination of both.

I knew I was dreaming right away, mostly because of the colors. I was in what seemed to be an infinite stretch of dark space, with a single spot of light, which I found myself standing in. The darkness stretched in all directions, the light came from so high up that it was impossible to determine a source. Then, all around me, streaked a blue and green blur.

They looked like beams of concentrated light moving impossibly fast. It would have been a nice light show, but then something unexpected—even for a dream—happened.

I heard the voice from my waking nightmares.

_Twilight Princess, listen well. We are the goddesses, Farore and Nayru. We speak to you, but you refuse to yield. You must take the hero to the Gerudo Desert. There he will find what his ancestors searched for._

"Wait. Just wait a minute. I have no idea what the two of you are talking about. I will take him to the cavern to train, we just have a few stops to make along the way," I tried to sound reasonable without offending them; the last thing I needed was the wrath of the goddesses.

_It is not the cavern we speak of. We speak of the answer to his ancestors' greatest question._

I sighed in frustration, hoping they couldn't hear. "What question?"

_The end of the one known as Ganondorf, once and for all._

Suddenly this conversation became much more interesting. "Killing Ganondorf is easy; it's getting him to stay dead that's the problem," I remarked, wondering what exactly they were trying to get at.

_You slay the wrong being. It is not Ganondorf you must kill, for surely so long as this being lives, so too shall Ganondorf return to wreak havoc on our beloved world._

As ridiculous as it might have been, I suddenly felt abandoned. As if I was listening in on my parent's conversation as they praised my sibling while disowning me. I nearly screamed out, 'Why don't you love what you created; all of it and not just your precious Light Realm?' but resisted. Instead I asked, "Who is it exactly that we need to kill if not Ganondorf?"

_She resides in the Gerudo Desert, her most beloved place. She fell mad long ago, and so we banished her to live eternally in the desert she so loved. It was the least we could do for her. Call us weak if you will Twili, but we had not the heart to kill our dearest sister. And so now our most precious world suffers for it, and we can merely send our champions to salvage what remains after the destructive outbursts._

"Wait," I hesitated, running the words over in my mind. Their champions must mean Link and Zelda, those who held the Triforce, and if it was a matter of the Triforce then… "Ganondorf is resurrected because he's one of the champions of the Triforce, like Link and Zelda. Which means you're asking them to now—!"

_Yes. Slay her. Slay our dearest sister, Din. _


	12. Reconciliation

_Chapter Eleven: Reconciliation_

I woke up in the early hours of the morning in a cold sweat lying beside Link, who was snoring gently. I blinked hard and looked around, trying to catch my bearings. Right, Peak Province, Snow Peak Mountain. Then I felt a chill race down my spine that had nothing to do with the tempreture. The strange Hylian creature, where was it?

I looked over to where it should have been, but all that was left was the rope we had tied it up in.

I quickly shook Link awake, a certain panic settling into my stomach. "Link get up; it's gone."

In response he merely shifted and mumbled incoherently. Growling in frustration I stood up and kicked him. "Link this is an emergency, get up now!" The combination of my kick and loud voice cause him to jolt awake.

"What's that? What's going on?" he demanded sleepily, spinning in circles looking for his weapon I assumed.

"That monster got loose," I told him grimly.

His attention snapped into focus as he zeroed in on the coil of rope. "Are you hurt?" he asked worriedly.

"Perfectly fine, as far as I can tell, and you didn't look injured either," I informed him. "How do you feel?"

"Little weird from sleeping on the floor, but that's about it." He walked over to the fire and threw more wood on it, pushing the embers around and causing it to re-light. "Why didn't he kill us when he got out?"

I slumped back down to the floor of the cave and peered out into the quelling snowstorm. "I don't know, maybe he never wanted to kill us in the first place," I suggested. Link cocked an eyebrow at me and gave me an "Are you serious?" kind of look. I shrugged. Weirder things have happened.

"Where could he have gone?" Link wondered as he rejoined me on the floor.

I didn't answer him right away, but rather continued to stare out into the snowstorm. We had to take one of those things alive and back to Zant, in order to glean more information on the strange subject. More information now would mean fewer casualties later. But where could we find one?

_Time runs ever short._

And then there was that unhelpful reminder and my dream rushed back to me on top of everything else. We couldn't go to the desert yet; we weren't properly prepared for one thing. We needed to find another one of those monsters and figure out what exactly they are, not to mention Link still had a few days scheduled on top of this mountain.

"Let's stay here and finish up your training," I responded at last. "We can try to get more of your memories back as well."

Link looked down at me, trust filling his eyes, and nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

* * *

Link's memories came in small bursts, but he was definitely, finally, remembering more of the original journey we took together. He would ask me seemingly random questions that I wouldn't think anything of until I wondered later how much he had remembered of certain events.

Once he asked me if we had ever visited this mountain before, which I affirmed. "Did we go… sledding?" he asked after a long moment. We had been eating a simple stew of sorts, made from some meat he had tracked and trapped the day before. He was rather excited about it; I was rather not.

Shaking that thought from my mind I answered, "Yes, well, you did anyways."

"You didn't go sledding?" he asked, surprised.

"Uhm, no," I replied, nervously wondering what he was thinking. "Why?"

"We have to go sledding!" he declared, mischief sparkling in his eyes. Uh-oh.

The next day we did just as he wished, and tracked our way to the tree with the massive ice crystals. Link knocked down a couple and shoved one towards me.

I promptly kicked it down the slope and watched with satisfaction as it rolled off the cliff. "No way."

Link pouted at me. "At least ride with me; you have to!"

"Give me one good reason I should go on that death trap," I said, glaring at said death trap.

"Because you'll love it!" Link answered a bit too happily. "Besides, you're stressed! You need to relax." He smiled at me expectantly and offered his hand.

"I do not need to relax," I muttered, taking his hand. I situated myself uncertainly on the slick piece of ice. "Link, I don't think this is going to work with both of us on it," I voiced nervously.

"It'll be fine, just do what I do," he explained overly chipper. We hadn't spotted any signs of the strange creature since it escaped us, but with his memories coming back I thought he would start to somber up. He was just making the most of what time he had to relax, I supposed.

I sighed in defeat. "If you say so." With that he pushed off and we slowly started to build speed as the ice flew smoothly along the fresh covering of snow.

Oh, Din. I was going to die.

As the first jump approached at break-neck speeds I squeezed my eyes shut, and much to my embarrassment, let out a yelp as we sailed over the cliffs gaping maw. I slowly opened one eye, afraid I would see us pummeling to our deaths, but instead saw Link grinning, his blond hair whipping about in the brisk mountain air.

Maybe this sledding business wasn't so bad after—.

"Ahhhhh!" I screamed as Link, literally, hit a tree and launched us into the air. He laughed maniacally and I held on tight to him as we came down for a landing. Instead of falling to the ground though, we hit the top of another tree and used it as a springboard, launching us back into the air once more.

After we finally landed on solid ground once more I was a bit more used to the feeling of the jumps, and by the end I was used to the feeling of the ice sliding over the permafrost. The trail, of course, ended at the yetis' mansion. Link hopped off the piece of ice and gazed, astonished, at the massive building.

"Have we been here before?" he asked, turning back to me. My legs were shaking from the ride and I had a hard time standing up.

I looked at the imposing place and nodded. "Yes, we came here looking for a mirror fragment. Uhm, you remember the mirror, right?" I asked uncertainly.

"A little bit," he answered softly. "You broke it after we got it back together—that mirror, right?"

I felt my face flush and dismissed it as a heat rush from my pounding heart. Stupid sled ride. "Yeah, I broke it."

"Does something live in there?" he asked, dropping away from the subject.

I walked over to where he was standing in a trance and slapped him on the back. "Yeah, now stop staring at it like that, you're creeping me out."

He shook his head and looked over at me, a smile slowly returning to his face. "I can't really remember it. Do you think we would be allowed to go in and take a look around?"

I thought about it for a moment, turning my attention back to the mansion. The yetis, although a bit strange, had been great hosts for the most part.

Aside from occasionally shoving Link violently for ingredients, getting possessed by the mirror shard and attacking him…

Well, considering the usual reception we received in dungeons, the mansion was a nice change of pace. It was almost fun, if not for my general depression at the idea of finding the mirror shards, and the yeti's bad memory and sense of directions.

I snapped out of my reminiscing and said, "I don't think they'd mind if we went in for a look around." They had actually invited him back the last time, but between saving the world he didn't have much time for leisurely races with yetis.

Happily Link headed for the door and I followed close behind, resisting the urge to hide in his shadow. He knocked on the door and Yeto answered almost right away. "Oh! It's you! Come in!"

Obligingly, we followed him inside. He offered us some soup which we gladly accepted, and then—predictably—challenged Link to a race. Yeta and I insisted watching from the sidelines. Mostly me, but Yeta was kind enough to sit out with me.

We waited, watching for our boys to come shredding down the slope, and she said something surprisingly insightful for a yeti. "He no remember, uh?" She turned to look at me puzzlingly.

"No," I answered, not able to meet her eyes.

"He will. He have you to help. Just like I have Yeto, uh," she said with a certain kind of reassuring warmth. Although I wasn't sure if I appreciated Link being compared to a possessed yeti.

I was about to thank her for her kindness when she suddenly jumped up. "Here they come, uh!" I looked to where she pointed and saw the two were neck and neck.

I bit back the impulse to cheer Link on at first, after all loud outbursts weren't really very lady-like or princess-like, for that matter. Then I looked again at Yeta's joyous face as she watched her husband race towards the finish, and I thought of the situation realistically. There was no one on this mountain but the yetis, Link, and me, so…

"Go! Come on Link!" I cheered, grinning mischievously. "Beat that old fur rug!" Yeta growled at me and I swallowed nervously. "Uh, I mean, beat that handsome fur rug?"

They both zoomed past us and crashed to a halt shortly after the finish line. Link and Yeto argued playfully about who won until Yeto got a little too carried away and punched Link "playfully," sending him skidding into a snow bank. Yeta went up to her husband and they started making out, as per usual, and I rolled my eyes.

Link stumbled out of the snow bank looking a little dazed, but otherwise fine. "Wow, I like this guy," he said grinning like a fool. "And I mean, I remember liking him and I like him now."

He shook his head, flinging snow everywhere including on me. "Ugh! Link watch it!"

Laughing, he picked up a handful of snow and asked, "What are you going to do about it."

"You don't want to know," I growled in warning. He refused to heed the warning and proceeded to chuck the handful of snow at me. "You are so dead Wolf Boy!" He ran off laughing insanely as I chased after him, threatening the wrath of doom.

But I was smiling too.

* * *

We continued to explore the mountain and talk about his past memories for several more days before I knew it was time to head back. If we could have lived on the mountain relaxing and enjoying our days that would have been okay by me, even if it was a bit cold, but with each turn of Link's memories came the reminder: time ran short.

We had to go back to Faron for two reasons, one being Zant, the other being the Master Sword. Link's memories seemed to have returned enough that he was brewing over it, but when I asked him what all he remembered he said everything was still a bit fuzzy. Full memories or not if he was still transforming into a wolf in the Twilight Realm, then he would need the sword to stay human. Communicating would be slightly easier if I wasn't translating barks.

I assumed, after I left, that Link would keep the Master Sword as a souvenir of sorts, but as we were leaving Peak Province I noticed it was a different sword he was using. When I asked him what he did with it he looked at me confused. Apparently he couldn't remember tracking it down, but he did remember placing the sword I described in a pedestal located in the middle of a small clearing within a forest. So he must have returned it after our adventure.

We picked up the horse from the watcher and told him to inform Zelda of our change in location. She would go on a murderous rampage if she couldn't find us.

And with that we were off, Link on Epona and I in his shadow, racing towards Faron Province.

We arrived pretty quickly, but we both experienced a serious case of déjà vu. The twilight had apparently spread. Not significantly, but enough that Faron was entirely covered, rather than just a single wall of it that blocked off a small portion of the forest no one lived in anyways. I couldn't help but wonder, why Faron of all places?

Link looked anxiously at the twilight. "Do you think they're okay?" he asked.

It took me a moment to figure out what he was talking about. Oh, right. His self-proclaimed family. "They should be okay, after all the curtain didn't start in Ordon, so I doubt it went towards it."

He looked at me uncertainly. "Why would it spread one way and not the other?"

"Twilight isn't necessarily an intrusive substance," I explained. "Unless told to do so, as in what happened originally, it should only spread to the strongest point of twilight in this realm."

"What's the strongest point?" he asked curiously.

"Probably the broken Mirror of Twilight," I replied grimly.

"Oh, no big deal then," he muttered. "It'll just spread all over Hyrule again."

I wanted to smack him for being so cynical, but he was right in one sense. Why was it spreading again, and more importantly how did we stop it this time when it was acting of its own accord?

"We'll figure something out after Ganondorf is defeated," I decided. I hadn't told him about Din or my dream yet. "For now we have to focus on him, other wise where the twilight is won't matter anymore."

Although Link looked torn over his family and the fate of Hyrule, his ancient instinct to preserve Hyrule won out in the end. We stepped into the twilight once more, and on the other side Link promptly reverted to his beast form. I looked away from him and up towards the sky. Black clouds, not of twilight, but of a brewing storm crackled with unleashed energy.

Time really was running short. I looked around the area of twilight that we had stepped into and realized right away it wasn't the Twilight Realm, but rather Faron drenched in twilight. So where was the portal back to the Twilight Realm now?

Link nudged my leg with his massive snout and broke me from my train of thought. I rested a hand on his head a moment before leading the way to the secret grove entrance. Traveling through the confusing forest would be a journey and a half on its own. Memories or not, the place was hard to navigate.

Luckily, and at the same time not so much so, Skull Kid happened to rear his ugly face just a few paces into the deeper part of the woods. Link shuddered upon seeing him, either regaining a memory or reliving one. Either way, he knew what to do and chased the so-called "kid" deep into the forest until he led us to where we needed to be.

I had mixed feelings on the Skull Kid myself. On one hand he was handy for finding the blasted sword, but on the other he really gave me the creeps. And I knew Zant.

We walked into the clearing, Skull Kid quickly becoming a distant memory once more, and another sense of déjà vu slammed us. The Master Sword rested in its pedestal, glowing with the light of the Sol and the power of whoever had created it. Link glanced up at me and I nodded.

He slowly approached the sword, uncertain at first, but then his steps became more familiar as did his bearing. I shielded my eyes for the explosion of light I knew was coming and waited for the dust to settle.

"Well, that's one thing to check off our to do list," I remarked, smirking.

"Yeah, let's go meet the army," Link agreed.

We started to head out of the forest, following the oddly more apparent path towards the slightly less dense area of the woods. Link paused suddenly, and just as I was about to ask why I sensed it. Probably not in the same way Link had, but I felt a chill run down my spine and my hairs stand on in. We weren't alone out here.

Normally I would downplay it as Skull Kid up to some kind of trick, but this unseen presence was much more… foreboding.

Link and I exchanged a look and slowly examined our surroundings. After a pin-drop silent moment Link called out, "Hello?"

Suddenly a blur streaked out of the trees and nailed Link, throwing them both tumbling across the forest floor. "Link!" I cried out, mostly in surprise.

He and his attacker rolled a few more feet before Link got his bearings and slammed the hilt of the Master Sword into the assailant's face. It hissed in agony and scrambled a few feet away, giving Link time to recover his footing.

Link backed up, towards me, as the creature—we could now clearly see it was the same thing that had attacked us on Snowpeak—rolled onto all fours and prepared to launch itself at us.

"Don't kill it," I quickly commanded Link. He looked at me like I was crazy.

"What?"

"We need to capture him and take him back to my realm!" I explained hurriedly.

"We don't even know where your realm _is_ right now!" he reasoned.

"Look just—!" I was cut off as the creature dashed towards us, springing for Link's throat at the last moment. Link pushed me out of the way before rolling to the side, barely avoiding the fangs of the strange creature.

Link raised up his sword, prepared to strike it while it was off balance, but suddenly looked up at me. "You're jealous of Ilia?"

I blinked once, totally confused. "What? This is hardly the time!" I stuttered, trying to dismiss the question.

"I just remembered," he explained, dodging the attack of the strange creature who was back in action. "I tried to tell Ilia about the events of the Twilight invasion and found out you were jealous."

The creature knocked Link off balance with a cheap shot to the stomach. "I am _not _jealous!" I proclaimed.

Link kicked the creature off as it struggled to reach his neck. "I already know you love me," he further explained. "I mean, it makes sense for you to be jealous."

"I am _not _jealous!" I shouted.

"Well I just mean that—," he paused to rush the creature, hoping to at least injure and slow it down. He swung but missed by a hair as the creature rolled away. "—I never had a chance to tell you, what with you breaking the mirror, then all of the chaos when you came back…"

The creature swung its fist out, but Link fended off the attack with his sword; the creature had tough skin as the sword only managed to give it a sizable gash rather than sever it. "I mean," Link continued as the creature leapt back out of sword reach, "I wasn't even really sure when you came back myself. I had a lot of mixed feelings, you know?"

The creature and Link exchanged several more blows. "Mixed feelings about what?" I demanded, anxiously watching the battle and waiting for an opportune moment to cut in and end it.

"You," he said, slashing the creature across the ribs. It hissed and retreated a bit. "I mean I might have told you the first time, but you left and that just threw me for a loop." The creature attacked with renewed vigor, catching Link on the arm and giving him his own sizable wound. "I guess I was kind of scared."

He chuckled a bit, a little breathless from the battle. "How's that for irony? The Hero of Light, holder of the Triforce of Courage, afraid of his own feelings!"

"Are you stupid?" I asked, genuinely wondering if I had missed him receiving a blow to the head.

"What I'm saying is—," he grunted under the force of a blow he barely managed to block. "—As soon as things started to settle down, I was able to sit down and think seriously about it, but then I screwed up because I told the imposter and not you!"

He charged the creature, slamming his shield into it and knocking it sailing. "Then of course I lost my memories, but even now—as fuzzy as those memories still are—I know!"

Link was pushing the creature towards me and I quickly searched for a large blunt object. Luckily, being a forest, there were plenty of rocks. I grabbed the largest one I could find and manage and knocked the creature over the head with it when Link pushed it close enough. It crumpled to the ground.

"What do you know that's so important you have to tell me while you're fighting?" I snapped, the unconscious creature at our feet forgotten for the moment.

Panting, Link grinned at me. "I love you."

I stared at him speechless for a long moment before my brain came up with a snappy response. "This really is hardly the time; come on pick this thing up, we're going home."

Link merely smirked at me, totally unfazed by my reaction, and picked up the unconscious body of the creature. "By home I assume you mean…?"

"The Twilight Realm."

* * *

Finding where the portal to the realm began and the leaked Twilight ended was not a simply task. It turned out to be rather lengthy, but after a couple hours of searching we arrived at the Twilight Realm. When we arrived on the palace grounds I saw a sight that I never thought I would see. The Twili preparing for battle, looking like they had genuine purpose.

Typically Twili tended to be a bit lethargic. Eternal dusk does that to a person; without a true sun life drains away.

Link looked excitedly at the troops, an eerily familiar feral look in his eyes. "It's so amazing to see all of this, knowing I've been here before."

I looked at him, surprised. "You remember the Twilight Realm now?"

"Yeah," he said happily. "But I also recall Zant." His bright blue eyes clouded over grimly for a brief moment, his old nemesis in mind, but the moment quickly passed. "But that's okay because he's dead now. I stopped him before, but you delivered the killing blow."

"Uh, yeah that's right," I agreed, observing the pride in his eyes from re-living the moment. Approaching the palace, I saw Zant standing outside of the main gate before Link spied him. This was going to be awkward and possibly violent.

Zant looked up, noticed us, and did a double take. He approached blissfully unaware of Link's dawning realization. Unfortunately I was painfully aware of it. "Hey Midna," Zant greeted casually.

What happened next wasn't exactly unexpected. Link dropped the creature he had been hauling, rushed forward, and pinned Zant up against the stone wall by his neck, sword pointing threateningly.

"How are you here?" Link demanded. Zant strained to see me without Link gutting him.

"Really? You didn't tell him?" he asked crossly.

"Sorry," I muttered, then more loudly, "Link, put him down and let me explain." Link glanced at me over his should looking hurt and confused, but his grip on Zant didn't lessen.

"What's going on?" he asked quietly to no one in particular.

"Please, Link, can we go inside and talk about this?" I pleaded.

He looked uncertainly between Zant and I for a moment before finally, slowly, releasing him and following me inside. Once inside I handed over the unconscious creature, giving orders for it to be locked away, and dismissed Zant, who walked off looking offended but no worse for the ware, and guided Link to one of my private rooms.

I sat down on one of the cushions and waited a moment to see if Link would sit down. When he made no move to, I started to explain, "Link, he's totally harmless now."

Link stiffened in response and snapped, "We risked everything to get to him and destroy him and you just brought him back like it doesn't even matter!"

"It did matter!" I protested. "I needed to bring him back."

He spun to face me. "What could you ever need from him?"

I jumped onto my feet and yelled back, "I needed to get back to you!"

The room fell silent except for our slow breathing. Link looked away first, turned and left, going Din knows where. I bit down on my lower lip to keep it from trembling, but couldn't stop the tears from falling.

* * *

I knew, upon reviving Zant, that if Link should ever discover I had done so, then he would be purely outraged. How else would he react? We _did _risk life and limb to defeat him and put an end to his madness. Link wasn't like me in that sense; he wasn't selfish.

However, I knew the only way I could possibly get back was through some kind of spell, and although my spell casting ability was just as fine tuned as any Twili's, Zant had been simply masterful. He was insane, yes, but he was good at what he specialized in. And he specialized in returning to the Light Realm.

Even if he couldn't find a way back and took over the realm again I figured it would be okay since he couldn't possibly reach the Light Realm any longer. I didn't think of my people, and I didn't think of that off chance that there was another way for him to get back.

What if things had gone differently and he had taken over and burst into the Light Realm once more? Would he even let me survive, or would he, unlike I, learn from his mistakes and kill me off?

And what would Link think in that scenario? That I had died honorably, or would he somehow discover the truth that I had brought all of it upon myself.

I didn't think the resurrection through as much as I should have, and I was lucky that Zant was on my side this time around.

I heaved a sigh and made my way down the long, obsidian hall. No point in fretting over the past; Zant was about to join me in the interrogation room for the examination of the strange creature Link and I had collected.

I arrived at the room and took a seat in the corner. The creature was chained to the wall, restraining its hands and feet, and Zant stood across from it with his arms crossed; he smiled keenly at the strange Hylian-like creature, and I was grateful that Link was still simmering down and opted out of coming with me to the interrogation.

"Hello there," he greeted the creature. "My name's Zant, but we need a name for you, now don't we?" The creature merely sat there, tied down, foam dribbling out of the corner of its mouth.

"Now by the looks of it you're some kind of fallen Hylian, so let's call you and yours Twilians." Zant always has a poor sense of humor.

Twilian stared at Zant unfazed.

"But of course what you are physically I'll be _dissecting_ later," Zant hinted, grinning evilly. "For now I have a few questions I think you can answer. You work for Ganondorf, do you not?"

Twilian flinched as if hearing his name caused physical pain. "I truly serve a greater power," he hissed. "Ganondorf has been granted some control, but not forever like my true master."

"And who is your true master?" Zant questioned, leaning closer. Twilian made no further comments, although his deep hatred of Ganondorf was well noted. As for his true master, I had a feeling I knew who it was anyways.

"What are you exactly?" Zant purred, staring fearlessly into the creatures gleaming eyes.

"I am above your race."

Zant pulled away, straightening up. He turned away for a moment and I saw his nostrils flaring in rage. He spun around quickly and punched Twilian, the force of the blow twisting Twilian's head to the side. It cracked it into place.

"Did I enrage you?" it asked smartly. "I won't tell you anymore, so just kill me if you can."

Zant glanced back over at me and I saw something surprising in his eyes. A distinct look of… hurt.

"That's all for today," I announced, rising from my chair. "You'll stay here with no food or water until we see fit. Come on Zant."

He followed me out obediently and apologized as soon as the door closed. "He struck a chord," he muttered.

"Just don't let it happen again," I told him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to find Link."

My seeking took me to a guest room Link had apparently requested, making himself at home in the palace. I knocked on the door and he answered with a gruff, "Come in!'

"Link, look I—," I started to apologize, but upon entering the room I saw the pile of bloody bandages on the table and Link struggling to re-wrap his wound. "What's that cut from?"

"The stupid creature," he muttered distractedly. "I think something's wrong with it."

The Master Sword rested in its sheath on Link's back and glowed anxiously. "Is that the wound from the Twilian?" I asked.

He glanced up at me dumbfounded. "_Twilian_?"

"It's the name Zant gave the creature," I answered unthinkingly. Then I realized what I said and quickly apologized again.

"That's no matter for now," Link muttered. I could tell he was still angry, but he just wanted to avoid the subject for now. Fine by me. "This injury won't stop bleeding."

I stared at him, sincerely frightened by what that could mean. "But it's been a day already, why would it still be bleeding?"

"I'm not certain, but it's not natural; the wound isn't deep enough for this." Link gave up on trying to single-handedly bandage himself and set the roll down on the table, resting his head in his uninjured hand.

I sat down at the table with him and picked up the roll of cloth. "Here, give me your arm," I commanded. He obliged, offering up his injured limb. I took it gently and started wrapping it up.

Although it should have been, the silence didn't really feel awkward. After I finished bandaging him, I rested my hand on his shoulder. "Why do you think it's bleeding so badly?"

"It tingled a bit when he struck me," Link answered. "I think he might have injected some kind of poison."

Not good.

"We'll get you back to Hyrule Castle as soon as possible and let Zelda check it," I reassured him.

He reached up his other hand, on his uninjured arm, and placed it over mine. "Right."

* * *

Several days passed and the interrogations didn't glean much information at first, but a disturbing conclusion came to Zant one night.

"They survive off of others' blood," he explained grimly.

"What makes you think that?" I asked, slightly disturbed.

"We cut into his stomach, but there was no food of any kind," Zant recalled. "In fact there was no evidence that any part of his body was actually functioning correctly or at all. It's almost like he's a shell with a brain only large enough to comprehend commands from its master."

I raised an eyebrow at him, not bothering to add the comment that went along with it. Zant glared at me.

"You said your hero was bleeding still," he continued, "and you said that one of the Hylians a Twilian had attacked was bleeding profusely from a fairly shallow cut." Zant casually walked over to the balcony of the room we had been standing in.

"Yes, and?" I prompted.

"Well, I believe that may be the poison your hero suggested." He explained, "The bleeding coupled with its apparent diet would make sense; it would need to drain all of the blood it possibly could from its victims."

It made frightening sense, and made me all the more impatient to return to Hyrule Castle to inform Zelda.

Zant turned around, away from the open sky that now brewed with ominous clouds. "Oh and I believe the only way to kill these things is a clean beheading."

With this information in mind I made a possibly rash decision and granted Zant control of the army.

He promised to follow closely behind us with the troops.

Link and I needed to get back to Hyrule Castle sooner than that though. I needed to make sure Zelda and I were on the same page, and debate how best to move the troops. Not to mention Link's arm.

Link, though, had his own reasons. He told me earlier, while we were watching the troops line up and Zant patrol the ranks, that something was drawing him inexplicably to the castle. Something deep inside of him was calling out and demanding his presence there.

It got to the point where he simply couldn't sit still or even sleep, so I left the last few details of moving the troops to Zant and agreed to head back ahead of them with Link.

He rode Epona hard to Castle Town, and we couldn't enter the castle soon enough. Upon entering we immediately split up, each on our own agenda.

The scar that our bond had become endured endlessly, though, as we wasted no time debating where or when we would meet up. To know without words what another is thinking… it was a blessing I had missed from him all this time without even realizing it.

We had truly become an inseparable pair during the invasion of the Twili. I was glad to see we were getting back to that now.

No time to dwell on that for now; I had to find the queen.

As I was walking around trying to catch my bearings in the unfamiliar castle, I heard some guards whispering about the whereabouts of the queen. "I think she's down below the castle," one muttered.

Another answered, "Yeah, there's something in the dungeons and she's visiting it."

"Or him," a maid whispered giggling. The guards shook their heads and huffed in a gruff, manly way.

"Women," they both agreed.

I highly doubted the existence of a secret lover, but it was possible that Zelda was down there. I followed some instructions and found myself, soon enough, descending ancient looking stairs. I supposed that, even though the castle had been largely rebuilt from scraps, the underground portion must have stayed intact.

The dank underground area was lit with some softly flickering torches, but the little light they gave still made it nearly impossible to navigate the treacherous, uneven grounds. The place reminded me of the dungeon I had been kept in while Ganondorf conducted his torture and I shuddered.

After walking down a single, narrow passage it became evident that the place was meant to be something of a maze. Nervously I wondered how frequently the guards checked for people who got lost down here. Then again, the only ones trying to get out would probably be wanted criminals anyways.

Running my hand along a smooth, gray wall I mentally backtracked, making sure I knew where I was. Then, I heard a noise.

It was a continuous noise, marked by small dips and accents. After a moment I realized it sounded like someone holding a conversation. I followed the noise down another passageway, and yet another after that, until up ahead I saw a significantly brighter light, as if there were extra torches in the area. Slowly, quietly, I approached, listening carefully to the murmured conversation.

"Are you sure it will be safe for him?" the female voice asked. There was a pause, then she said, "Very well."

It was definitely Zelda's voice, but who was she talking to?

"And how is your Link?" Again she asked a question and paused as if waiting for an answer, but none ever came. Instead she responded after a moment of silence, "I see, I hope it all goes well."

I peered around the corner I hid behind, trying to catch a glimpse of Zelda. She stood there facing the wall, which had a gaping hole in it, and in that hole was an object that glowed brilliantly. But what was it? Definitely not another torch, the light was wrong.

"If events in your time are reaching a climax, then that must mean you can also see how everything is ending for Midna an—?" Zelda had started to ask something, but she cut herself off, suddenly tensing up. "Someone's down here?" she whispered, almost too quietly for me to hear. I took a slow step back, hiding from her in case she decided to turn around. How did she know I was here?

"I will check, but no one should be down here for any reason," she answered an unasked question. I heard stone sliding into place and realized she must be sealing up that hole, and she was probably going to search for the intruder—me.

I quickly turned away and raced off, going as fast and silently as possible. Thankfully I didn't lose the path and found myself back on the surface in no time, but I didn't stop, I had to move away. If she decided to come back up to the main floor, and she saw me…

I heard the echo of footsteps far below and took off once again, stopping only when I felt I was far enough away. I had to circle back and catch Zelda by surprise—confront her. No better time than now when she had something to be guilty of.

I backtracked once more, caught Zelda in a hallway near the back of the castle, and stared her down. After yet another episode I knew I couldn't ignore whatever was wrong with her; it could be fatal in battle.

"Zelda, I know something's wrong with you," I told her, blocking her only path to freedom. Her eyes darted between the walls surrounding her, as if they were going to swallow her up. For a moment I thought she was going to run away from me, or at least try.

"What do you mean Midna?" she asked, her voice taking on a slightly threatening tone.

"You've been acting weird, and I know something's wrong with you. Don't play stupid with me!" I took a step forward. "Tell me what's going on."

"Midna, I can handle this," she whispered, looking defeated. I slowly approached her as she collapsed on the stone floor, shaking.

I looked down at her and sighed. "You call this handling it?"

"Midna," she whispered, head in her hands. "I can hear them, they're arguing. She's been helping me, but now I don't even know which one's which."

I glanced around the empty-for-now hallway, and pulled her to her feet, shaking her to snap her out of her insane babbling. "We need to go somewhere more private; this isn't a matter to be discussed out in the open like this."

She took a deep, wracking breath and calmed down a bit, looking around for the nearest room. "This way," she said, leading me to a room not too far down the walkway.

We entered the room and I took a seat at the table in the modest room. It was a sparse space, only this wooden table, a few chairs, a vanity, and a single, high-up window. I waited for Zelda to take a seat across from me before I asked, "So what's going on, exactly?"

"I should have told you both sooner, I'm so sorry," she answered, tears welling up in her eyes. It made me more than a little nervous to see her so shaken; if nothing else, Zelda was one of the toughest people I had ever known, Twili or Hylian. She didn't cry easily, but this was clearly freaking her out. Whatever this was.

"Told us what?" I prompted.

"Remember when I told you about our reincarnations?" she asked, making eye contact with me. I nodded. "One of them, perhaps the oldest one, has been speaking with me."

Okay, it's official then. Zelda's lost it.

"No, no!" she protested. "Don't look at me like I'm crazy; she's the reason I threw the ball and found out that the Triforce had been healed!"

"What?" I asked, shocked. I looked at her wide-eyed. "The Triforce has been healed? What do you mean?"

She checked for an escape quickly, eyes darting about, thinking of an excuse. "I was going to tell you both before we left," she claimed defensively. "Sometime during the ball, some how… someone cleansed Link's piece."

"H-how is that possible?" I wondered aloud, covering my mouth with my hand. "Does that mean he can have it back then?" I demanded.

"Yes, he should be able to take it back, but," she paused, shifting uncomfortably. "I wonder how the bond was broken; I don't actually believe you managed to break it utterly when you tried—only enough to remove it from his body."

"Wait!" I snapped. "You mean to tell me that you knew I had to take the Triforce piece out because of the taint and you still treated me like a criminal?"

"I didn't know until later," she answered quickly. "I didn't know until shortly after the two of you left for the Twilight Realm without telling me."

I gave her a confused look. "You still treated me like a criminal then," I stated plainly and a bit annoyed.

"I was under a lot of stress, you'll have to forgive me," she explained sincerely. "I found out that you had to remove the Triforce because of what the other Zelda told me about the bonds, but the Triforce was still tainted at that time."

"Could she have done something?" I wondered, sitting back in my chair and thinking. With so much going on, certain details became fuzzy.

Zelda shook her head. "I asked her if she could, after I realized who she was and she had explained the circumstances to me. She told me that she could do nothing from her side."

We sat in silence for a long moment before I suddenly remembered something. "Oh, so that's why Link and you acted funny that one time."

"Which?" Zelda asked. I rolled my eyes at her.

"When we were in Faron, while I was getting kidnapped."

Zelda furrowed her brow in concentration. "You may be right. I cannot recall any of those memories."

"I think it's safe to say you would remember me getting kidnapped," I muttered. So that had been their past reincarnations, taking over for a short time. Why were they so interested in what was going on in this time period though? I had a feeling we probably wouldn't get an answer to that question, not any time soon anyways.

Another thought struck me and I had to ask, "Will he get all of his memories back when he obtains the Triforce again?"

Zelda lightly rested her hands on the table. "Yes, I believe so, but hasn't he remembered most of it?"

I shook my head in the negative. "Well, kind of. He claims to have most of them back, but they're fuzzy, some more so than others."

Zelda nodded. "The Triforce should clarify things then." She dropped her gaze from me and stared at the plain floor. "You didn't ask what happened to the past voice of Zelda."

"That's right, you said you couldn't tell the difference, but I thought you only had past-Zelda's voice?" I questioned, turning my attention to the vanity on the left.

I felt her gaze on me once more and she said, "She was the only one for a while, but I hear remnants—echoes—of some tortured soul." I looked back at her to see her hands trembling. "Oh, it screams terrible things. And now the two voices have become one in my mind. I fear I may truly be going mad."

"What's the voice telling you exactly?" I whispered.

"They want me to go to the Gerudo Desert," she replied. She made eye contact with me briefly before dropping her gaze once more. Barely audible she added, "And they say Link will betray us in the end."

_Din calls,_ the voices in my own mind murmured.

* * *

Zelda and I immediately agreed that our first step was to find Link before the Twili arrived. We had to give the Triforce piece back to its rightful owner. Not to mention Zelda still had to look at his arm, but when I told her about it she was convinced that the Triforce would heal the wound.

We tracked Link down by the entrance to the dungeons, oddly enough. He looked over at Zelda and asked, "What's down there?"

She gave him a weird look and answered, "Nothing much, why do you ask?"

"I feel like there's something down there," he answered, almost in a trance-like state. "Something calls to me."

Zelda smiled a bit. "I suppose we're finally getting into the swing of things. You two wait here, I'll go retrieve it."

I rolled my eyes at this. "Wouldn't the ambience down below be more fitting for this?" Zelda laughed a bit as she descended the stairs, echoing a ghost of her laugh to us. Link fidgeted nervously.

"What's down there?" he asked.

"You'll find out soon enough," I answered, placing a hand on his shoulder. He immediately stopped moving around and smiled at me.

"Sorry, I'm just feeling a bit wound up at the moment," he explained. I nodded in understanding. Then, just a few minutes later, Zelda emerged from the depths with the golden power sparkling in her hands.

"Link I believe this belongs to you," she said proudly. Link peered at the strange, golden object for a long moment before slowly reaching a hand out to pick it up.

There was a brilliant flash of light and when the dust settled Link had his birthmark back. The remaining scars on his hand vanished and the bleeding slowed, the cut itself slowly stitching up. His forehead was scrunched up in what almost looked to be pain.

Zelda and I exchanged a look; he must be regaining and crystallizing the rest of his memories. After a long moment, Link relaxed and looked up at us.

He grabbed me and pulled me into a hug, breathing heavily. "It never had anything to do with the Triforce," he muttered gratefully.

"What?" I asked confused and a bit embarrassed with Zelda standing right there watching us.

"Nothing," he sighed. "Now what?"

"Zant should be arriving with the army within the next few days, until then, we need to make sure the Light Realm warriors are prepared," I answered, looking to Zelda for approval.

She nodded. "Agreed, and we must prepare to introduce them to the Twili."

I looked at the two Hylians standing before me and knew we all had a similar, if not spoken, thought: easier said than done.

* * *

We made our way to the war room where Zelda's commanders had been assembled for a debriefing. Zelda and I entered together, with Link trailing behind us, and everyone in the room rose and bowed deeply, sitting only after we had taken our seats.

I kind of missed the respect I received in my own castle, and the Hylians' politeness did not go unnoticed.

"Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to two very important people," Zelda began, speaking loudly and clearly so not a word would be missed. "This is the Twilight Princess Midna." She made a gesture towards me. "You will treat her as you treat me, and she has some valuable intelligence that she shall share in a moment."

The assembled Hylians waited patiently, accepting.

"And this," she continued. "Is Link of the village Ordon. He single-handedly free Hyrule from the strange Twilight that invaded this realm."

The reaction they gave Link was significantly different. All of them looked in awe, the older ones gasping audibly, while the younger ones leaned forward in their seats to get a better look. The tips of Link's ears turned red and he bowed his head gratefully.

"These two will assist me in leading the troops into battle with the strange creatures we are now calling Twilians," Zelda explained. I had given her a rundown of all that we learned, including the nickname Zant had come up with, earlier. She looked over at me expectantly.

"Greetings," I purred, smiling gently. Some of the Hylians blushed noticeably. "As Zelda mentioned I am the princess of the Twilight Realm, and my people were enslaved and used in a war against your people merely a year ago."

This sobered them up somewhat; many of them had probably lost something precious in the outbreak of Twilight.

I continued, "But today we come to you as your allies in fighting a greater menace. One we thought defeated long ago." The focus of the Hylians surprised me somewhat. Although I had thought only a few were truly brave, it would seem they all wanted nothing more than to protect this land. I suppose some of them just didn't have the proper means.

I peeked at Link from the corner of my eye. He was to go over basic drills with them, but it was only for a day. Hopefully it would be enough. For a moment I wondered why he hadn't stayed with Zelda after I left; he would have made an excellent general.

"The creatures you will be fighting," I said after the brief pause. "Are venomous, we believe. Their claws and fangs are coated with some kind of substances that causes even the shallowest of wounds to bleed severely."

One of the generals raised his hand, asking permission to speak. I nodded at him. "Is there an antidote for the poison?"

I bowed my head sadly before answering, "No, not yet. But we have our best doctors working on an antidote as we speak."

A younger man asked, "Isn't it a bit rash to rush in knowing that if our soldiers get injured, then the best we can do is put them out of their misery?" An older man sitting next to him elbowed him discretely, causing the younger man to flinch, but he didn't take his eyes off me.

"No, we'll have an antidote soon enough," I answered.

The same man spoke up again, "Who exactly is concocting this antidote?"

"Some of my more skilled magic users," I replied patiently.

Suddenly the young man stood up and slammed his hands on the table. "And how do we know we can trust _your_ people?" he demanded angrily.

Taken back by his outburst I didn't reply right away; I merely watched as the older man stood up and put restraining hands on his shoulders. "You're making a fool of yourself! Sit down now!" the elder man warned.

"Those monsters killed my family!" the younger soldier screamed in outrage, bloodlust in his eyes. "You monsters killed my family!" He struggled against the older man, furiously point accusingly at me.

"Remove him now," Zelda commanded coldly. "Put him in the stockades until further notice."

"Is this what it comes to?" he demanded as he was dragged from the room. "Our own queen handing us over to a bunch of monsters _again_?"

The older man who had been restraining him buried his head in his hands, utter ashamed. Zelda remained unfazed outwardly, but I knew the words had struck a nerve, just like they had for me. Link, not so used to hiding his emotions as us, was visibly fuming.

After the interruption had been removed Zelda implored me, "Continue."

I cleared my throat and started speaking once more, explaining the agreed upon course of action as well as the Twili who would be fighting alongside the Hylians. "Are there any questions?" I concluded.

An as-of-yet silent man spoke up, "Yes You Highness, how long before we clash with the enemy exactly?"

I glanced over at Zelda. "Link will be going over some basic drills and fighting techniques this afternoon, have your troops lined up and prepared by then. The Twili should be arriving this evening, and we'll waste no time."

"We're leaving tonight for the Gerudo Desert?" a grizzled veteran asked.

"Indeed."

He smirked. "Sounds like this is gonna be some fun." A few of his comrades grinned in anticipation and Zelda dismissed the meeting on that note.

After the meeting Link went off to start speaking with the troops, and Zelda recommended that I get some rest; she would send someone when my people reached the castle. I dozed in the familiar room Link and I had been staying in previously, wondering what tomorrow would hold.

How many troops would be lost? What if Zant hadn't been able to uncover enough information to procure an antidote? And what would it mean if Link couldn't defeat Din?

The weight of the situation slowly settled on me. I hadn't even told him about Din yet.

What would not telling him serve to do? Surprise him maybe, but I knew better than to think it would scare him. If he had to face Din then he would do it. He would kill a goddess; he would find a way to.

And I knew, inevitably, I would be by his side when he did it.

Would I get in the way though? The last thing Link needed was a useless princess in his way… but I couldn't let him face her alone. If it meant putting my life at risk… well then, Zant could take care of the Twili. Never thought I'd actually think that without laughing.

I had to tell Link about Din on the way over, and I had to inform Zelda still. Letting out a great sigh I rolled off the bed and sought out a guard in the hallway.

"Hey, do you know where Her Highness is?" I asked casually.

"Throne room," he answered gruffly. I walked off in the now familiar direction of the throne room.

Just as I was about to swing the door open I heard two voices softly conversing and recognized them as Link and Zelda's. I listened carefully.

"I know you may want to ride with her, but the Hylians are insecure; they need the reassurance of their hero," Zelda explained.

"I don't want to get separated from her in the middle of the battle," Link countered.

There was a brief pause and I heard the soft _click-clack-click_ of shoes on a stone surface. "You remember your hand, do you not?"

Another pause. "Yes, but that was our mistake and not hers."

Zelda laughed softly. "You really have learned much, and remembered all."

"Yes and I'm ready for whatever this battle holds, but only with her."

I knocked on the door and heard Zelda call, "Enter." I walked in and gave them a casual wave.

"Any news?" I asked.

"Yes," Zelda answered, descending the stairs of her throne. "I just received word that the Twili have arrived, so I had Link fetched and I was just about to send off for you."

"Good." I nodded as we all shared a brief moment of silence, lost in our own thoughts about the day to come. "I have something important to tell the two of."

Link, looking puzzled, asked, "What is it? Something wrong?"

"Not exactly," I answered hesitantly. "But Link is going to be needed elsewhere during the battle."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, looking concerned.

"You're not the only one who's been hearing voices and having weird dreams," I explained. "Farore and Nayru have been pestering me about this for a while, but I wasn't sure if it was legitimate or just the onset of insanity."

"So hard to tell these days," Zelda agreed sincerely. Link gave her a weird look.

"Yes, but fortunately that's not the case for me yet." I crossed my arms determinedly. "The goddesses want us to kill their corrupted sister."

"Din?" Zelda breathed.

"The one and only," I answered grimly. "Apparently she's the one who constantly revives Ganondorf, and she's been doing it for a long time."

Link and Zelda's faces both scrunched up in pain suddenly yet briefly and I had another moment of déjà vu. When they looked at me I could tell it wasn't the Link and Zelda I knew.

"So it's been Din this entire time?" Zelda asked.

"Hah, I should have figured," Link muttered, barking an unhappy laugh. He turned to Zelda and asked, "Do you think this kid has what it takes?

Zelda smiled gently at him, with a look that vaguely made me want to claw her eyes out. "He'll be just fine. After all, he's your son."

Link grinned proudly. "Yeah I guess that's true." He looked over at me. "Thanks for taking care of my boy. I know you two will—!"

Zelda elbowed him in the ribs. "Shut up idiot!"

I laughed a bit at the odd display and asked, "Isn't coming back to this time going to screw up the timeline?"

Zelda smiled kindly at me and I realized she had a slightly younger look than the Zelda I was familiar with, yet her eyes were just as aged. "We're something of experts on time."

"Yeah," Link agreed. "We wouldn't do anything to screw Hyrule up; not when every one of our descendents and forefathers fight so hard to keep it together."

"Although," Zelda muttered.

Link looked at her and smirked. "Although this might be the last time."

Zelda looked around the throne room and smiled softly again. "I'll pray for it to be, but our time is running short. That odd blue fellow is going to arrive in a moment."

Link nodded in agreement. "Right." Just as the time-traveling Zelda returned to the past, Link paused. He looked me in the eye and said, "He's not the only one who forgives you; they forgive you too."

With that the pair lit up brilliantly and when the figurative dust settled all that was left in their place was a confused looking Zelda and Link.

"I'm sorry, but what were we talking about?" Zelda asked after a moment.

"Do you remember me telling you about Din?" I asked in response.

Link nodded and Zelda affirmed, "Yes."

"Then we were just about to go greet the Twili," I answered, smirking mischievously. Zelda merely nodded, choosing to ignore it, and Link cocked an eyebrow at me, expecting to hear the full story later.

Suddenly, on the far end of the room, Zant burst through the doors yelling bloody murder. "Get off me you clowns! I have permission to be here!"

"Guards, at ease!" Zelda commanded quickly. Said guards quickly stepped back and snapped to attention.

"Monkeys," Zant muttered under his breath as he approached us. "I come leading the army and these fools think I'm invading! Why doesn't anyone warn people about me?" He stomped to a halt next to me. "I mean really, first the stupid Wolf and now this!"

Said Wolf glared at Zant, still untrusting. "What do you need?" he asked coldly.

"Just came to inform Her Highness—," Zant gestured towards me with sarcasm, "—that her troops had arrived. When are we leaving?"

Zelda and I exchanged a glance and answered simultaneously, "We're going now."

The four of us made our way to where the troops were lined up and Zelda introduced Zant and the Twili to the troops. The generals of the two armies made a show of shaking hands in allegiance, but we didn't have a lot of time for formalities.

Brief introductions behind us, and with our troops focused solely on the battle ahead, we began the march to the Gerudo Desert.

* * *

We walked somberly to the desert, our troops thundering behind us. The Twili were trained for battle, but they didn't have the experience the Hylians did because we had been left exclusively to our own devices. No time to war with each other when there was hardly enough just to live day to day. I glanced back at the wave of marching troops, clearly split down the middle. Division would kill us. I glanced over at Link who dutifully rode beside Zelda.

Zant caught up with me and glanced back to where I had been staring. "Trouble with the puppy?"

I laughed once, an exhausted, tired sound. "No, but look at that," I gestured vaguely behind us.

"Together yet divided," Zant muttered under his breath. He added something at the end that sounded distinctly like a curse.

"So, are you planning on dying?" I asked casually.

"What? No!" Zant exclaimed. "I mean, uh, not again," he added sheepishly.

"Well that's good because I'll need someone controlling the Twili while I'm gone," I answered matter-of-factly.

"Wait, where will you be?" he asked, staring at me untrustingly.

"I have to go with Link to behead this monster," I answered grimly.

He frowned at me and then glanced over at Link. "I won't ask what that's supposed to mean. I have the feeling it's kind of a long story anyways," he said, turning his attention back to me. "But I do have one question that I've been wanting to ask you."

I gave him a weird look, but shrugged. "What is it?"

"I have this odd feeling that after this is all over I'll be seeing a lot more of him around the palace," he said gesturing towards Link.

"That's not a question," I said, smirking.

"Is he coming back with us this time?" Zant asked irritably.

I squinted in the rising sun, already reflecting harshly off the sand, and said, "We'll find out soon enough."


	13. Quelling the Storm

_Chapter Twelve: Quelling the Storm_

We arrived at the Arbiter's Grounds late in the afternoon and the troops immediately started spreading out, surrounding the compound, and chasing out the few bokoblins that they found. Zant and Zelda immediately went to work spreading out the troops into patrols and report centers. We knew Ganondorf and his troops were out here, we just weren't sure where exactly yet.

Once the troops had their orders, Link and I joined Zelda and Zant in the command tent.

"Midna do you know exactly where she's at?" Zelda asked quietly, lest she be overheard by an overly curious patrolman.

"Deep inside Arbiter's Grounds," I answered listening carefully to the instructions the voices fed me. "Deeper than Link and I went the first time."

Link nodded grimly, his full memory of Arbiter's Grounds running through his head. "How did we not notice the first time?"

"It's not like we had a particularly strong sense of the supernatural," I replied. "We were so focused on getting to the Mirror of Twilight I guess it just never occurred to us that it went deeper than that."

"Din may have been dormant at the time as well," Zelda answered. "She only resurrects and empowers Ganondorf, but if he were alive at the time and doing her biding, then she wouldn't need to be active necessarily. The two of you should be able to find her fairly easily this time around, since she recently brought Ganondorf back."

Zant waved his hands cutting off the conversation. "Wait! What are you guys talking about?"

"Link and I have that task to complete," I explained.

"We should probably get going," Link said, glaring a bit at Zant.

Zelda nodded. "Very well then. May the blessing of Farore and Nayru carry you."

Link bowed his head slightly. "Thank you."

Zant looked at me uncertainly. "Uh, good luck, I guess?"

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever, just don't do anything stupid while I'm gone." Link and I turned and started to walk out of the tent.

"I've never done anything stupid!" he protested.

We both paused and looked over our shoulders at him doubtfully.

"Just go!" he pouted.

With that we headed out of the tent and started the long trek to the heart of Arbiter's Grounds—the prison itself.

* * *

The walk over to the entrance of the grounds was a bit awkward to say the least. With each step I felt like we were approaching some kind of cataclysm, yet all we could manage to do was walk side by side like always, not saying a word. What if this was our last chance to say anything? What if it was my last shot to apologize and explain?

As I mulled this over, Link apparently had similar thoughts and beat me to the punch.

"Why'd you bring back Zant?" he asked quietly as we walked ever closer to the final showdown with… with whatever awaited us in the secret chamber hidden by the massive prison.

I swallowed hard. Any other time and I could have brushed off the question and avoided the subject, but something—an instinct, I suppose—told me that what I knew now would not be what existed after we confronted what awaited us.

Even my pride wasn't worth a lost chance and a life of regret.

I owed him a few answers, and this one seemed fairly basic compared to everything else we had faced and gone through so far.

We stopped in front of the entrance and I let out a small sight, partially in preparation and partially in recognition. We were on the cusp.

"Link I'm not that much older than you. Not in terms of normal time," I said at last. Link stopped examining the door and looked at me, showing I had his attention.

"What does that have to do with anything?" he asked sincerely.

"I never had the chance for what one would consider a normal childhood. I think that's part of why Zelda and I get along as well as we do. Despite our disagreements, we both know what the other went through better than anyone else possibly could."

"I'm glad you two are such good friends, otherwise I'd have twice as many problems," Link remarked sarcastically.

"That ancestor of yours has had a really bad effect on your attitude," I snapped back irritably. "Do you want me to answer your stupid question or not?"

He smiled good-naturedly and held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, continue."

Rolling my eyes I continues, "Those kids in Ordon are luckier than they know." Link looked forlornly towards his aforementioned hometown.

"Yes, they've been blessed in many regards," Link mumbled in agreement. "More so than I."

"Your blessing brought us together, so don't knock it too much," I warned, placing a hand on his shoulder and smirking.

He returned the look with a grin of his own and nodded. "Yeah."

I let my hand fall from his shoulder as I picked the story back up. "They have no idea how valuable being a child is. I never had the chance, and being raised like that gave me—."

"Your stubbornness? Your pride? The fact that you're obviously a bit spoiled?" Link filled in with a smirk.

"Hey, I changed! I admitted—several times now I think—I was wrong for some of how I treated you way back when but—."

"But you haven't changed all that much," he answered again cheekily.

I opened my mouth to protest this, but paused when I realized he had hit the nail on the head.

Why had I brought Zant back? Greed. I grew up as a greedy and selfish child, and I never had a chance to properly change that part of myself through adolescence. Same thing went for my so-called pride. That had been the undoing of my good standings with Zelda.

I was too afraid to confess to letting the Triforce fall back into Ganondorf's grubby hands, so I attacked Link without explaining why I had to. Although she found out on her own later…

"Yeah," I mumbled, looking dejectedly at the ground.

"What?" Link asked confused.

"I was greedy Link," I explained. "That's why I brought Zant back. I thought I could have it all."

"What does bringing him back give you?" he demanded. Then his eyes widened in horror. "Wait! Was he the fiancé you were talking about?"

"My what?" I yelped in surprise.

"Remember, when you took the Triforce away; when you were breaking the bond?"

I thought back to that time; it had all been a bit of a blur, and I repressed all thought of it afterwards. Then I remembered:

_I have a whole other life in the Twilight Realm, stupid dog. I have a fiancé who I am to marry, so that I may become the full-fledged queen of my realm,_ I had boasted.

"Oh no, no," I quickly repealed. "No that was just a lie! I had to break the bond."

"Why did you have to remove my Triforce?" he asked curiously. "Why did you have to break that bond?"

"It was killing you," I replied easily, looking him in the eye. "I had to remove it. I was afraid to admit to being the one who not only gave Ganondorf the Triforce, but also gave him a way to kill you from a distance."

"He was torturing you though?" Link asked uncertainly.

I nodded. "Of course, but if I would have waited, then you would have figured everything out and come for me…" I trailed off, thinking of the moment of Link's realization. _You're not Midna._

"But that could have been days or weeks even," Link protested, inadvertently trying to defend me and blame himself.

"But it was only a matter of time; you found me very shortly after you recognized the imposter," I answered. "He tricked me and I fell for it. That's my fault, not yours, Link."

He didn't look totally convinced, but it seemed he would rather not argue the point.

"But really," I said, giving a small smile, "Zant? He cursed me, usurped my throne, and tried to kill me on multiple occasions."

Link blinked once before nodding, "That's true I just thought maybe… well I couldn't figure out why you would if not because you loved him on some level."

I let out a sad sigh and leaned against the dense boy. "I brought him back because I love someone, but not him."

"Who did you—?" he started to ask.

"You," I answered quickly. "I did it to get back to you Link."

He looked at me in genuine shock. "You would risk everything that we worked for… you would bring back your arch nemesis just so that…?"

"Yes," I replied solemnly as Link placed an uncertain hand on my shoulder, holding me closer. "I could make the decision to choose my realm and my people over a friend—even a best friend, but I could _not _make the decision between the man I love and my people. I couldn't consider it at the time, so I ran away."

"Midna," Link whispered, face unreadable.

"To choose between all of that responsibility, all the obligations and sacrifices that come with ruling a kingdom over my best friend and my first love," I murmured. "I'm so sorry Link, I couldn't even consider that." I paused and turned my face towards him. "I was too afraid I would choose wrong, only to find out I did in the end."

Standing there, outside of the entrance of Arbiter's Grounds, feeling somewhere deep inside ourselves the final battle rumbling up through the ancient ruins, Link closed the distance between us and kissed me like he never had before. It was a slow and sweet kiss that would have lasted so much longer if not for knowing we had a duty to fulfill.

I had to ask one more question though. There could be no doubts this time.

"Link, what are you going to do after this is over?" I whispered against his lips.

He stood perfectly still in the gentle breeze, his hair whipping about in the classic look of a pure hero. He whispered back, "I don't know. Maybe I won't survive. I honestly don't know."

I nodded gently and turned away from him and back to the Arbiter's Grounds entrance.

This place… it had to end here, didn't it? After all that we've been through, all the things we witnessed, and everything we did, it came back to this place. Every time I had a nightmare, it was this place. Every time I thought about returning to the Light Realm, it was this place. Every time I thought about my regrets, it was this place that came first to mind.

"Knowing everything that you do now—?" I started to ask. No, it wasn't what he knew; it was what he remembered. "Remembering everything that you do now, are you really up to risking your life for Hyrule again?"

He countered my question with another, "Is that really what you want to ask me?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"I just thought the more appropriate question would be, 'Do you trust me enough to go into battle with me?'" He turned to face me and I saw the question was sincere, not bitter. Then I understood, of course, he would risk his life for Hyrule, any day; it wasn't ever a question in his mind.

Maybe he realized, more acutely than even I, that this could be the last time we have a chance to speak, and with no one around to interrupt why not? It felt like the goddesses were giving us one last little blessing. A short but vital amount of time where, for just a moment, we could speak honestly and work out every wrong. We could honestly reconcile with one another, once and for all.

"Do you trust me?" I didn't bother adding it, but he knew the full question: After all I've done do you still trust me?

He looked away from me, up to the twinkling, twilight-painted sky of the Gerudo Desert. Silently he pondered the question, although I couldn't help but wonder if he had already answered it for himself a long time ago.

Finally, he said, "Absolutely."

"Really?" He turned his face from the fading light of the sky to face me.

"Yeah." He gave a small smile before explaining. "We both did some things wrong, and we were both weak when we needed to be strong. But I think, in the end, we pulled each other through, and did what we thought was best for the other, as selfish as it may have seemed at the time."

"Link…"

For what felt like the first time, Link smiled a great, genuine smile, everything out in the open now, and said, "I guess, any way you look at it, we were meant to be together in the end."

I felt my heart skip a beat and a blush creep up my neck, as all I could do was stare dumbfounded as he reached out his hand towards me. After a moment I gripped it uncertainly, and he pulled me into a massive bear hug. Hesitantly I wrapped my arms around him, and then with more vigor, I hugged him back. For a moment everything was perfect. Everything made sense and I realized that I had my best friend back and…

I wasn't going to leave him for a long time.

The eternally moment-ruining pest called voices in my head decided enough was enough though.

_Time run short, Din must be quelled. _

I regrettably pulled away from Link, resting my hands on his chest. "Let's go do what we do best, Wolf Boy."

"As you wish," he replied with a slight smirk.

We started to enter the dungeon as the sun sank below the horizon, but not before we heard an unearthly chorus of screeches sound in the distance.

* * *

Arbiter's Grounds held a certain kind of haunting beauty. Maybe it had to do with the fact that light and shadow collided here and imprisoned both realms' worst criminals, or maybe it just had to do with the depth of the massive prison.

Link and I walked for quite a time—thankful that the place had remained fairly clear of any overly time consuming monsters—before we finally found the door the goddesses had directed me to earlier.

Link gave the door a puzzled look, and I didn't really blame him. The door looked, for all sakes and purposes, like a normal door. It wasn't overly threatening and didn't have any long poems of forewarning etched into it.

The only clue as to what it contained came from the fact that we were several stories below the earth, as told by the damp, musty atmosphere. For a moment I considered just how deep we must be to feel the presence of water in the underground cavern, but then the walls started to feel suffocating and I quickly dismissed the thought.

Link placed a hand on the door, feeling its smooth, eroded surface. "There's definitely a bad feeling coming from within this room," he muttered.

"Foreboding," I agreed. Slowly Link pushed the door open and took a cautious step inside the chamber. I followed closely behind, keeping my eyes and ears sharp for any flash of movement or brush of noise.

I learned a long time ago that seconds could mean the difference between life and death.

The door suddenly slammed shut behind us, causing me to jump and Link to automatically reach for his sword. We took a few more cautious steps inside, our footsteps echoing in the cavernous space.

_Cavernous space?_

"This place is huge," I whispered, listening to the echo of my voice.

Link nodded in assent, peering even harder into the darkness.

Suddenly a blue glow appeared to my right just as a green glow appeared to Link's left. We both automatically jumped back, hearts pounding.

"Fear not, young ones," a voice whispered clearly yet softly. "We've come to try once more."

Another voice, very similar to the first with only a slight enough difference, continued, "We must try once more to help her regain her senses."

"_My _hero," the first voice whispered. The two glowing lights started to shift and form into humanoid shapes. "I would rather you not come to blows with my sister."

"Holy Din," I whispered.

Link seemed to be hypnotized by the green-tinged woman. "No, Farore," he whispered in reverence.

The second voice replied, "Yes, that is my sister Farore before you, Hero. She is your true mother, just as I am Zelda's."

"You must be Nayru," he said, turning his attention to the blue-dressed woman.

"That is correct hero." It almost sounded as if she could be smiling at him, but her face, as well as her sister's, was a mask of grim determination.

The two women walked forward fearlessly, a holy radiance lighting the path before them, and we followed obediently. I couldn't help but wonder though: if they could come here why didn't they just kill her themselves?

"Don't be foolish Twili," Farore snapped irritably. "We could not kill our own, unlike your people. This was the reason for the Hero's birth and he shall gladly complete this task."

I looked over at Link uncertainly. Not uncertainty over his ability, but rather uncertainty concerning whose side he would take: the goddess's or mine? He appeared to not even have heard the exchange; he simply stared as if intoxicated by the goddesses' very presence.

Nayru came to a halt and Farore's attention turned back to the task at hand. "Sister, be kind, the last thing we need now is clouded and uncertain judgment," Nayru chastised.

I decided I rather liked Nayru's calm and certain words. Actually, the wise words reminded me a bit of Zelda. Although Farore only reminded me of that obnoxious past Link.

"The son of time is not to be scorned in my presence," Farore warned.

"Sister, your forgiveness would truly be divine at this point," Nayru countered.

Farore made no comment, instead focusing on a light that had appeared ahead. Link stiffened, recognizing what it was before me.

A small child, a little girl in a black dress with brilliant gold eyes, fiery orange hair, and dark skin, sat on the floor with her knees pulled up to her chin.

At first the child didn't seem to notice us, then slowly, she looked up and towards Nayru.

"Sister, this is your last chance," the wise goddess pleaded. "Give up this madness and return home with us." Although filled with emotion, I could sense an underlying warning underneath, _"Or else…"_

The girl merely sat on the floor and looked disinterestedly at Farore, whose eyes narrowed in response. "She speaks truly. It's not too late to come home and put all of this silliness behind us."

Silliness? She calls all of what's happened over so many generations mere silliness?

Farore spun to face me and vehemently yelled, "I will _not _take such talk from a Banished One!"

Nayru turned to calm Farore down and said, "Now is not the time, Sister!"

I opened my mouth to defend myself, but then noticed Link, forgotten during the outburst. He had a vacant look in his eyes as he stared at the young girl, who slowly stood up and brushed off her dress.

Link mouthed a few words and took an uncertain step towards her. The girl smiled happily, offering her hand.

Farore and Nayru were still arguing as Link took several more steps forward, and then time felt slow, as if we were running in a dream.

I can remember in perfect clarity three things happening simultaneously: the chamber suddenly flooding with an eerie and unnatural light that resembled fire; Nayru and Farore vanishing without a trace; and Din, the little girl, suddenly launching herself at Link's throat.

"Link!" I screamed, rushing forward. Time seemed to come to a complete halt as I watched realization slowly dawn in Link's eyes.

There wasn't even time to close my eyes as Link jerked to the side and Din tore into his shoulder, blood spurting high into the air and raining back down on them. Link screamed out in pain and instinctively brought down the hilt of the Master Sword on the little girl's head.

Screaming in pain the child dropped off of Link's shoulder, and he quickly stumbled backwards away from her.

"Oh holy goddesses," he breathed, panting. I helped him to his feet again as we watched the creature writhe in pain.

His shoulder didn't just drip blood; it created a stream of it racing down his arm into a quickly forming puddle at his feet. I tore off a length of cloth from my long skirt and tied it around his shoulder, trying to staunch the bleeding.

"This is bad," I muttered worriedly. Din had torn into his sword arm.

"She really isn't human," he whispered distractedly. "How do we kill her?"

"No time to think, she's getting back up," I warned. Half way across the chamber Din stood on shaky legs and started visibly trembling.

An unholy scream echoed from the little girl's mouth and her body twisted to unnatural proportions.

"What's she doing?" Link asked, adjusting his grip on the Master Sword.

"Transforming," I answered without a doubt. Sure enough Din left her little girl appearance behind and shifted into an all-too familiar image.

"Ganondorf?" Link asked uncertainly.

"No, just a trick of hers," I answered grimly. Din summoned a sword from thin air that looked strikingly like Ganondorf's though and charged across the room.

"Move!" Link commanded, shoving me out of the way. I stumbled back and regained my footing quick enough to witness their swords clash.

Sparks flew as the holy blade met the evil steel. The odd fire-like light in the chamber flickered and shifted as Link and Din danced around the chamber, clashing again and again.

Din's tongue flicked out, snake-like, and she grinned with pure malice. In Ganondorf's voice she mocked, "Ah Hero of Twilight at last we meet." She swung the sword down in a powerful, unstoppable attack, forcing Link to roll out from under it.

The illusionary Ganondorf cackled in maniac delight. "Or are you the Hero of Time? The Wind Waker? Perhaps you're the Oracle of Seasons or Ages? Maybe you even have a little of the Fierce Deity in you!" With this exclamation she charged forward once more and swung her sword in a powerful arc, knocking Link off balance.

Link stumbled back trying to regain his balance, but it was no good. Din rammed into him and knocked him sprawling on the ground.

"Whoever you are, you're weak!" she spat distastefully. "You shame your ancestors!"

She was going to kill him. Her sword rose high above her head she prepared to drive the cold steel through his skull. "Farewell, Hero. May your next of kin last longer!"

I quickly snapped out of the stupor I had been in and simultaneously broke Link into twilight particles as I conjured and launched a magical attack at the insane goddess.

The magic had no greater effect than drawing her attention towards me, but luckily the transportation spell worked and Link appeared next to me, looking dazed and breathing heavily.

Din cackled again. "You brought a friend!" she exclaimed gleefully. "Oh goody."

She suddenly threw the sword at us and we instinctively dodge, giving her the chance to transform again. She was back in her little girl form, looking absolutely unharmed. The sword she had thrown vanished with a hiss, and she started to conjure a magical attack of her own.

"Who wants to die first?" she asked, a demonic tone to her girlish voice. The bolt of black energy raced towards Link, who prepared to reflect it, but then at the last moment, the attack diverted to me.

I barely managed to move enough to avoid a direct hit, but the magic had burned through my dress and scorched my stomach. I winced in pain and stumbled back.

"Midna?" Link called worriedly.

"I'm fine," I answered. "Just a glancing blow."

Din laughed in pure joy. Then she summoned dozens of similar magic spheres and rapidly began launching them towards us. The bolts ricocheted off the walls, only stopping after they came in contact with skin or an opposing blast of magic.

Link danced about the floor, moving towards Din who stood in the center laughing insanely, as I conjured counter blasts.

Just as Link prepared to swing his sword in a horizontal arc, Din's attention snapped to him and she released a close range blast of magic that sent him flying backwards. I changed him back into particles once more to stop his seemingly inevitable crash back to earth.

He fell out of the sky next to me once again, on all fours for a moment, before dropping and rolling to the side in pain. "Arg!" The blast had scorched his tunic and heated the metal, but not enough to create a permanent burn scar.

I turned my attention back to Din as Link struggled back to his feet. Her form started to distort once more, and I quickly seized the opportunity.

"Get ready to swing, Link," I commanded quickly, transporting him directly in front of Din's shifting shape.

With a strong, "Hyaa!" and an even stronger blow he sliced through the twisted creature. It hissed in pain and vanished in a cloud of smoke. Panting from the sudden adrenaline rush, Link stumbled back a step. He laughed in relief, and I hesitantly started to smile. Was it finally over then?

Without warning the unnatural light in the room flickered and died, plunging the chamber into darkness. Link's smiling image was swallowed up by the shadows.

"Link?" I yelled, feeling my heartbeat pick up again. It wasn't over, of course not. It couldn't be that easy. For a long moment, the room was entirely silent.

Suddenly a horrible, unholy scream tore through the chamber. "Link!" I screamed, racing forward.

I looked around frantically, panic clouding my mind. "Link!" Panting, I stood still, looking for a sign of him.

The earth seemed to tilt suddenly and I felt like I was floating. An eerie, demonic laugh filled my mind.

"What do you fear, Twilight Princess?" a sadistic voice whispered in my mind.

I turned, frantically looking for the speaker. The darkness grew blurry, like I was crying, and I blinked rapidly in an attempt to clear my eyes.

When I opened my eyes I found myself in a rectangular room composed of obsidian stone, the roof so high I couldn't see it. I looked around, examining the empty space.

"What do you fear?" the ghost of an echo whispered in my ear once more, fading into nothingness.

* * *

_Midna?_ Link thought frantically, turning about in the unexpected darkness of the vast space. Suddenly he heard a scream shatter the brief silence.

"Midna!" he exclaimed, racing towards where he had last seen her.

He ran until he reached the edge of the room. Slamming his fist on the wall in frustration, he turned around. At least he had his back against a wall.

Peering into the darkness he listened intently, hating the feeling of déjà vu.

"You may hate it," a voice whispered, trailing off.

Suddenly Link's vision grew blurry and he rubbed his eyes, trying to regain his vision and feeling his ears strain even more to make up for the missing sense.

"…But what do you fear?" the same voice asked ominously.

Suddenly Link found himself back home. He sat up and looked around confused. It was definitely his house, but what had that been—a dream?

More like a nightmare.

But if that was a nightmare then what was real? Had Midna returned or had that been a dream as well? What if it had all been a fleeting dream?

He walked uncertainly out of his house and climbed down the ladder, heading towards the village. He hated this confusion that clouded his mind. Why couldn't he remember?

A strange, flickering light emitted from the village, and Link looked up. When had night fallen?

He hurried on, palms feeling sweaty, heart pounding, the familiar feeling of adrenaline taking over his senses. He turned the corner and saw, to his utter horror, flames rapidly consuming the small homes of the villagers.

He ran to the nearest building, desperately seeking the others. Someone must have noticed and escaped the houses. He smashed the window open and crawled through, cutting his cheek on a jagged piece of glass.

His Triforce birthmark lit up and he ignored the pain, landing carefully inside the flaming building. He looked around, smashing doors open in the small house, but no one was inside. Had the villagers already escaped?

He clambered back out the window, hitting the dirt at a run. The next house turned up the same results, and he didn't have enough time to check every single building. They were burning too rapidly.

Glancing in Rusl's house he confirmed no one was left in there either, and he jogged up to the ranch. Maybe they were settling everyone in up there before the older, able-bodied villagers returned to stop the flames' quick swelling.

Again he found no one, not even a goat.

What was going on here?

There had to be someone nearby, if all of the villagers had suddenly fled an attack, then he might still be able to catch up with them.

He started running, harder than he'd ever run before, and passed quickly though the provinces. No one was around, not even a monster, and Epona didn't answer the horse call.

Link suddenly found himself at the entrance to the castle, embers floating down from the towers as they collapsed in a fiery heap.

_No!_

He ran into the smoldering town, looking desperately for any sign of another living being. Throwing doors open only caused a sharp pillar of flame to force its way out of the houses, and it quickly grew apparent no one was in Castle Town.

They wouldn't have gone to the castle though; it was burning just as bad if not worse. What if there was someone left in there though?

Desperation and panic clouding his judgment he burst into the throne room of Hyrule Castle, but no one was there either. The castle was far too large to search before it collapsed on top of his head. Then again, if everyone else was dead what did it matter? He wouldn't have any purpose or reason to live.

Suddenly a thought came to him: the mirror chamber.

And just as suddenly he found himself standing in the sandy room, the weather just as hot and suffocating as it had been near the burning buildings.

Link looked around the impressive, open-ceiling room for a moment before he saw it.

The mirror.

* * *

I looked around the empty room confused. Where had Din gone, and more importantly, where did Link go?

Walking back to the nearest wall of the room, I lightly placed a hand on it. The stone looked familiar.

Then it dawned on me. It was in same design as a Twili building, the same materials. I re-traced my steps back to the center of the room and felt my heartbeat pick up.

Was I in the Twilight Realm?

There were no doors in the room, no windows, and I felt the walls constrict my throat.

Calm down, calm down. Just look for the way out. There's always a way out.

Feeling stupid for not thinking of it sooner, I tried to summon my magic and teleport myself out. The magic sparked on my fingertips and faded out.

I tried again with similar results. Was the room suppressing my abilities some how?

I squeezed my eyes shut and breathed deeply. Think, think… stay calm and think…

When I opened my eyes the room had changed. On one end was a familiar door, clearly in the style of the Twili, and on the other end of the room…

The mirror.

Not shattered like it should have been, but whole and sparkling with temptation.

My only way back to the Light Realm.

But how could it be here? I destroyed it a long time ago.

I looked back at the door and noticed the runes above the frame. _Alone. _

Lightly I placed a hand on the door, not opening it, but merely feeling its smooth surface. What was behind it?

_Your people._

I wrenched my hand away as if the door had burned me. My people?

I looked back at the mirror. The whole mirror. The gateway to another realm.

Should I shatter it again? Slowly I walked back towards the mirror.

"Midna!" I jerked to a halt, standing bewildered before the mirror. Link?

I took an uncertain step backwards. My pulse started to race and I understood.

I had to choose.

Ghostly laughter echoed in the claustrophobic room.

This was only an illusion, I reminded myself firmly. It was a test; I had to do what was right.

I started to summon up the magic to destroy the mirror all over again, but hesitated. Why did it matter what I did here? It wouldn't affect anything in the real world, right? And the sooner I made my decision the sooner I could take the next step in escaping this horrid place.

I raised my hand, resolved to smash the mirror again, but suddenly I saw Link's smiling face reflected in it.

I dropped to my knees, trembling.

Oh goddesses.

My head fell into my hands and my breath came out in quick bursts. I had to calm down.

It was only right to shatter the mirror and go to my people. They needed me; they needed their leader.

But…

The mirror stood, proud and strong, reminding me of myself, except for the face I wasn't acting very strong at the moment. What does he mean to me? What is he?

He's my wolf, the savior of my realm, my traveling companion and my best friend. He—.

I…

I squeezed my eyes shut. Don't make me choose, I begged silently.

The mirror's imposing presence couldn't be shut out from my mind, and I slowly lifted my head from my hands.

Why was I crying?

I looked to the mirror with conviction, tears streaming down my face, and suddenly knew why.

He was everything to me. Worth enough to surrender my position as the Twilight Princess. I could overcome the grief of losing my people eventually.

But I would never stop missing him.

I stood up and took a shaky step towards the mirror.

"Link…"

I stumbled a few more steps. Don't turn around. Don't doubt yourself or hesitate again.

"I…"

Reaching out I brushed the smooth surface of the mirror with my fingertips.

"…Love you!" I shouted with conviction

I ran through the portal the mirror had created, hearing it shatter as it deposited me on the other side.

The ground rushed towards me and I landed ungracefully on the familiar stone of the Arbiter's Ground mirror chamber. I looked around and noticed Link standing a few feet away, aghast.

"Midna?"

"Link I love you and I'm sorry I didn't tell you when I had the chance the first time!" I shouted, panting and still a bit dizzy from the teleport.

He rushed over to me and kneeled next to me, holding me tightly. "I thought it was all a dream," he murmured.

"It is," I answered grimly. "We're in some kind of illusion. Din was trying to turn us against ourselves!"

Link quickly stood up, pulling me along with him. "Does that mean you—?"

He was cut off by familiar ghostly, demonic laughter. _How precious. The Hero and Princess reunited. Play time's over._

The world started to fade to black and I felt Link hold me tighter.

"I'm not losing you again," he whispered fiercely.

My vision blacked out and I felt a rush of air around me. I opened my eyes and quickly had to shut them again to adjust to the pitch-blackness around me. With relief I registered that Link still had a firm grip on me.

"Are we back in Din's chamber?" he whispered uncertainly.

I looked around as best as I could, but it was hard to tell. "I think so." We shifted into a standing position and looked around the eerily silent room.

Suddenly demonic red eyes glowed in the darkness. "Link!" I exclaimed.

He turned in time to see the red eyes and move out of the way. "What is it?" he asked frantically.

"Some kind of animal," I answered. It had been fast. Couple that with the already difficult to see in environment and it was hard to tell, but it moved like an animal.

"Midna, change me!" Link demanded. He tossed down the Master Sword and I transformed him into the sacred Blue-Eyed Beast. A deep, slowly building growl shook his frame.

A challenge.

The same creature came darting out of the darkness once more, but wasn't expecting Link's senses to give it away quite so soon.

He turned and snapped at the quick creature and had it in his jaws. He bit down, hard, and started to crush it. The strange fire-like light returned and I could make out the creature in his mouth: a fox with a jagged wound across its ribs.

So he had hit her earlier—she played that trick to give herself time to recover.

The fox vanished from Link's mouth and he looked around, confused.

A moment later the fox dropped out of thin air a short distance away and started to change yet again, this time enlarging her current form and twisting the features until it became a nearly unrecognizable disgrace of its former shape.

A demonic howl sounded from its mouth as the boar-fox hybrid charged towards Link. He dashed to the side, turned and launched himself at the mutant, grabbing onto its neck.

I summoned a blast of magic and hurled it at the creature's eye. It squealed in pain and started bucking, crashing into the wall of the rounded chamber. Link hung on easily though, tearing chunks of flesh off the thing.

Suddenly it ran into the wall at a bad angle and tore its wound open, blood gushing in buckets from the oversized hybrid.

This time it screamed in fury, vanishing once more.

Link jogged over to me, the tear in his shoulder re-opened. I summoned the Master Sword and Link Transformed back into Hylian form.

"Changing shape is really rough on wounds," he said, dismissing my concerned look. "The bandage should hold up for now—it was to."

Suddenly, in the center of the room, appeared a once-beautiful woman with one gold eye, fiery red hair, and dark, scarred skin—a long sword in her left hand.

"Din," Link spat, staring her down.

The too-familiar demonic laugh echoed through the cavern, sounding even more surreal coming from her lips. "Come, Hero, allow me to show you who first taught sword play."

"Link," I warned. He didn't take her eyes off his opponent, but I knew he was listening. "Be careful, something's not right. She's facing you too directly."

He nodded in affirmation and muttered, "Do it now."

I quickly teleported him in front of Din who, though surely surprised, rose her sword to deflect the blow as if she had been waiting for it all along.

The sword fight from earlier had resumed, this time with Din in her true form.

Their blades clashed and she, even sustaining so many injuries, easily shoved Link off balance.

She charged him and he managed to right himself and prepare for the blow—but suddenly she dropped to the ground and slid, feet first, at him. She swung up just as her feet made contact with Link's knees. He screamed in pain and fell over, hitting the ground for only a moment before scrambling back to his feet.

He stood grimacing in pain, clutching his side. Blood quickly seeped through his tunic and Din turned, stood up, and prepared to finish him off.

Not again.

I quickly teleported Link back to me where he collapsed, knowing he only had a moment to give in to the pain.

Din turned and looked towards us almost disinterestedly. "My ruthless, reckless, traitorous child," she purred at me.

I merely stood my ground, highly conscious of Link trembling at my feet, struggling to stand.

"Look at that determination, that stubbornness, that pride!" she exclaimed, walking ever closer. "You're so like me child; it's no wonder they chose you to rule over them. A spitting image of her mother."

"You are _not _my mother," I replied vehemently, giving in to the taunts.

"Not directly, no," she agreed with a smirk. "But all Twili descend from Ganondorf, and he descends from me."

I felt my vision start to tunnel and I shook my head fiercely. "The Twili are descended from a banished tribe of Hylians."

"Not Hylians, Gerudo," she corrected. I narrowed my eyes in suspicion.

"Gerudo?" I echoed.

"Our people used to live in the very desert we're now named for, but that wretched Hero of Time beheaded our race. He," she paused and glared down at Link, "banished Ganondorf to the place now known as the Twilight Realm."

"That doesn't make Ganondorf the father of our race!" I replied angrily. "They sent a tribe of Hylians there as well!"

Din laughed. "No, the tribe was Gerudo. Why else would they make the prison in the desert, leave the mirror here?" she asked.

Not waiting for an answer she continued, "Think about it. The Hylians wouldn't just put a dangerous place like this in the middle of a good peoples' land, now would they? No, they built it here so they wouldn't have to move entire villages of Gerudo as far."

She stopped a few steps from us, Link standing, but hunched over a bit still. "They put it here to mark the entire race as unwelcome criminals. And they… became you." She laughed quietly at first, steadily increasing in volume.

"Oh what a twist of fate!" she exclaimed. "My own descendent in love with the descendent of the very man who banished her people to the Dark Realm in the first place!"

Suddenly Link lurched forward and thrust his sword through Din's chest before falling over and crashing back to the ground. Din stumbled back, looking vaguely surprised.

Then she started to laugh again, and she pulled the blade from her chest.

Spinning it in an elegant arc I watched, horrified, as the blade penetrated through Link's back.

She pulled the steel out and tossed it away behind her. The sword clattered across the floor, coming to a halt after crashing into the wall on the far side of the room.

I dropped to my knees as Link's body convulsed. "Link!"

He struggled to sit up and coughed, blood splattering onto the floor. Din stood triumphantly above us, and I glared up at her.

"Midna," Link whispered, tearing my attention away.

"Don't speak; you're really hurt," I whispered back.

"No, you have to transform me. I—," he cut off, choking on his own blood for a moment. "—I need to finish this now."

I closed my eyes, looked away from him, and back up to Din.

"I don't know what comes after life, but I hope you suffer there."

I launched a bolt of magic at her, distracting her for the brief moment it took to transform Link. He put all the strength he had left into leaping at Din, who was still off balance from the magical attack.

His jaws closed around her throat and he bit down, a sickening crunch and a spray of blood his reward.

He barely managed to land on his paws before swaying and dropping to the dirty earth again.

Din stumbled backwards, a look of utter shock on her face. She placed a hand on her neck as it gushed blood, and then stared uncomprehendingly at the hot, wet smear of red on her hand. Then she looked at Link, lying on the floor, struggling to breathe.

"What do you know?" she whispered, smiling gently. "We all bleed the same after all."

With that the corrupted goddess fell to the earth without another sound.

Shaking I crawled to where Link had fallen and summoned the Master Sword back. The twilight fled him and a groan of pain escaped his lips.

"Hold on Link," I told him. "I'm going to save you."

How was I going to get him out though? Even if I could carry him it was a long walk back to the camp, and I doubted that he would be able to survive it.

A brilliant glow of white light flooded the room, chasing away the eerie semi-light that we had fought in.

_We will assist you in reaching Zelda._

Thank you.

The light grew in intensity.

And I'm sorry.

The world went black.

* * *

When I awoke I found myself lying on a cot in the familiar command tent. I jolted upright and looked around. Where was Link?

Then the tent door flapped open and Zelda walked in, looking dirty and beaten up but alive. "Ah Midna, you're awake."

"Where's Link?" I demanded, jumping to my feet anxiously.

"Calm down!" she implored. "He's fine. He's resting in another tent right now."

I breathed a sigh of relief and allowed myself the comfort of sitting back down on the cot. "How long was I out?"

"Not long, Zant found you here in the tent with Link bleeding to death and he called me over," she recounted. "You mumbled something and then passed out; Link was still conscious. That was only a few hours ago."

I rubbed my temples and allowed the world a moment to settle around me. "What happened out here after we left?"

Zelda's face turned grim. "We encountered those so-called Twilians shortly after the two of you reached the entrance to the prison. They ambushed us, and I'm sad to say many lost their lives."

I bowed my head respectfully, thinking not only of the Twili's losses, but the Hylians' as well.

"It was strange though, there wasn't a trace of them until the sun had left the sky completely," Zelda commented absently. "I wish we could have found out more about them, but none were captured alive."

"They all escaped?" I asked, genuinely surprised.

"No." Zelda frowned. "They all seemingly dropped dead in the midst of the battle, which is why Zant was so near the command tent when you arrived."

"They all just dropped dead?"

"Yes, and we discovered…" Zelda trailed off, a disgusted look twisting her noble features. "One of the soldiers recognized a corpse. It turned out that the Twilians were in fact Hylians brought back from death."

I nodded grimly. "That would make sense what with their appearance and strange behavior. Death kind of screws with people's minds."

"Hey I take offense to that!" Zant exclaimed haughtily, entering the tent.

I rolled my eyes at him. "Why hello Zant."

"Don't give me your sarcasm; I saved your dog's life!" he bristled. He stomped over to me and halted in front of my cot. "Lay down."

"What the—?"

"—I need to look at your wound. Jeez, get over yourself!" he cutoff angrily. I blinked in surprise at his commanding tone, but obeyed nonetheless.

Zelda continued where she had left off—well, been interrupted. "What happened down there Midna?"

I thought back to the nightmarish battle with Din, moments of sharp clarity bursting in my mind and mingling with the hazy moments. "A long fight," I answered after a moment.

Zelda nodded in understanding as Zant finished his medical work. He stood up and stomped towards the exit, pausing as he reached out to open the tent flap.

"I'm glad you're okay," he said sharply, never turning around and quickly leaving after.

I blinked in mild surprise. Looking back at Zelda I said, "Hmm. I could practically hear his ego crack."

She looked a bit more exhausted at this, but gave a small, good-natured laugh. "Don't hassle him too much. He led the troops brilliantly, and he did save Link's life."

Link.

"I need to go see him," I requested quickly. She looked as if she were about to protest, but thought better of it.

"Very well, let me show you the way." She led me outside of the tent where Zant's irritable mood suddenly made sense.

Injured Hylians and Twili lie strewn about the grounds, with Zant and the medical teams racing frantically to mend the worst of the wounds, or at least stop the pain until the injured soldier heaved his last breath.

"They ambushed us," Zelda echoed, eyes unfocused as she walked numbly to a nearby tent. "He's in here."

With that final bit of direction she wandered off, probably to help as much as she could with the injured.

I entered the tent cautiously, not wanting to make any excess noise in case he was still resting.

"Sleeping like a baby," I murmured, quietly taking a seat beside his cot.

"No'm not," he muttered back. I smiled, partially in overwhelming relief and partially in good humor, now that I could afford it.

"You should rest—you did get stabbed you know?"

He rolled over to see me better and smirked a bit. "I know, and I heard what you said."

I looked at him confused. "Said when?"

"When Farore transported us outside," he breathed, wincing in pain. "You said 'Don't die,' so I didn't."

I gave a disbelieving laugh. "You're delusional, you need to rest."

"No, you did," he insisted, grinning weakly. He let out a slow, long sigh and winced again.

"Link are you okay?" I asked anxiously.

"Yeah I'm fine," he assured. "I just really wish Din hadn't stabbed me. It kind of hurts."

I laughed not only at the absurdity of the statement but of the entire situation. "I can't believe you killed a goddess."

He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them sadly, and I saw a depth of sorrow in his eyes that I had never seen before. "I wish I hadn't."

"She was killing innocent people, bringing Ganondorf back to life and locking you in this endless, awful cycle," I explained calmly, a little concerned.

"I just feel like I killed a part of what made me _me,_" he explained, eyes closed.

I looked down at him with something akin to pity, but more fitting for him. He had no use for pity, but perhaps it was a certain kind of sympathy. Understanding how it felt to be locked away from something so precious.

Link had killed Din, and in doing so supposedly stopped Ganondorf's reincarnation. But had he stopped his and Zelda's own as well? Something had died inside that chamber aside from Din. Something that left him feeling only a hallow victory.

Suddenly a glowing green and blue light filled the tent as Farore and Nayru arrived. I glanced down at Link anxiously. What did they want now?

"Fear not, young one," Nayru said kindly. "We come to reward, not punish."

Zelda ducked in the tent and started to ask, "What in Hyrule are you—?" but fell speechless at the sight of the goddesses in her tent.

"Oh holy Nayru," she whispered. Said goddess turned and smiled kindly at her.

"Hello my child. You've done so well; I'm so proud of you," she breathed happily. Zelda could only stare speechless for a moment before quickly stuttering a thank you.

"What are you here for?" I asked curiously.

"I am here to heal the wounded and explain a few things to my daughter here," Nayru said, gesturing towards Zelda. "And also to give my deepest thanks to the blessed Hero, for doing what we were too afraid to do."

Link, bleary-eyed up until this point, was engulfed in light and his wounds faded. He sat up and lightly touched his abdomen where the hole from the sword injury had been.

"Thank you," he said softly, bowing his head.

With that Nayru and Zelda exited the tent and brilliant flashes of light started to rain around outside.

Link and I both turned our attention to Farore who had remained silent up until this point.

At last she spoke, "I came to thank you as well—both of you."

We stared relevantly, really too flabbergasted to say anything.

"What Din said was true," she said, addressing me. "You are descended from wicked people who the Hero fought long ago." The goddess sat lightly on a chair across from Link and I, gathering her thoughts I supposed.

"I'm sorry for what my people did long ago," I said at last, swallowing back the last refuges of my pride. "I know and understand now why the Twili can never serve the full burden of their sin."

"I then too must apologize," Farore responded, surprising both Link and I. "I was wrong to so harshly judge the one who assisted the young Hero here, and I almost repeated a foul mistake."

"What do you mean?" Link asked curiously. She looked at him with all the pain in her eyes of a mother who had lied to her son.

"I treated Din unfairly and to this day I blame myself for her madness," she explained. "It's the entire reason I created you, Hero, to atone for a goddess's sins." She paused and gazed sadly at the dirt floor of the tent.

"How did you treat her unfairly, if you all created Hyrule equally?" Link wondered, not hesitating to ask his questions.

"She always thought of herself as a lesser being," Farore clarified. "She created the Gerudo to represent this feeling of hatred, and when she turned them against the Hylians I had so lovingly created…" she trailed off, lost in the memories of centuries past.

"You had no choice but to create my ancestor and battle her," Link concluded.

"Yes, Hero, that is correct," the goddess answered in assent. "In light of that history and today's bloody conclusion, I want to offer a gift to the Twili, as my atonement and in memorial of my dearest sister."

I looked at the goddess surprised. She was offering us—her most hated enemies—a gift?

"Make no mistake, Twili, I am still far from past my prejudices, but I know Nayru will reign me in properly," Farore warned. "And this is not a gift only for you, but also an option for the Hero, should he choose to take it."

"What option's that?" Link inquired curiously.

"I shall create a new mirror, nearer to your home village, and allow open passage between the two realms," Farore declared.

Link smiled gently and then collapsed back on the bed. I turned around anxiously, but Farore merely chuckled.

"He's resting. Even with Nayru's healing his body and mind are still exhausted." The goddess turned her attention to me. "I shall leave you with the spell to solidify your people."

If she left that with us then that would mean…

"Yes, Twilight Princess, your people are forgiven at long last," Farore proclaimed proudly. "You may return to the Light Realm that you still hold so dearly, even after all these centuries."

I didn't even have time to thank her as Nayru re-entered the tent with Zelda.

"Our work is done sister, and soon they will all be waking up," the blue goddess told her sister.

"What do you mean waking up?" I asked unthinkingly.

Nayru smiled kindly at me. "I had to put them under a small sleeping spell while I worked."

Of course she had. Only a privileged few could ever witness the true form of the goddesses. And I was one of them now.

"You are blessed in many ways I believe you're just now realizing," Farore quipped. She looked over at the cot where Link rested. "Take care to keep those blessings in mind."

Zelda suddenly spoke up. "What of the Triforce?"

Nayru and Farore both turned to look at her, pondering the question.

Nayru smiled kindly at her. "You shall keep yours within your bloodline, so that many wise rulers come to the throne of Hyrule."

"And the Hero shall keep his power, so that he may travel between the realms. At least until Zelda discovers the sister spell of the one the Twili used to solidify themselves," Farore answered.

"What about after that?" Zelda asked curiously.

Farore's lips twitched in a rare, but brief smile. "Only time shall tell."

With that the two goddesses vanished in a brilliant light and the groggy groans of soldiers could be heard outside of the tent.

"We should start packing up and begin the return trip home," Zelda said thoughtfully. "There's much to be done."

"I hope you won't mind too much if I have Zant help you in my stead. I need to stay with him for a while longer," I replied, gesturing towards Link.

"That will be acceptable," she answered, smiling gently. She exited the tent once more and the sounds of a large force slowly being mobilized could be heard.

I rested my chin on my hand and watched Link sleep.

The world finally felt nearly peaceful, but there were still matters left to settle once we returned to Hyrule Castle.

The Hylians needed to know about the Twili, the full and true story, now that we would be commuting between the realms on a more regular basis—after all who was I to deny even the lowliest peasant in my kingdom access to the light?

For now though, it was enough to simply sit here and let the world spin without me.

* * *

A couple of weeks later I sat in the same meeting room I had found myself in nearly a year ago, and ironically the mood was just as stressed.

"Are you sure everything's ready Zelda?" I asked worriedly.

"Of course," the queen of Hyrule replied promptly. "We've been discussing this practically since we returned, and the Hylians need to know where we stand with these 'odd people' who came to our rescue."

"Is this really the best way to go about it though?" I asked nervously. Normally the pessimistic one, even Zelda rolled her eyes at me.

"They're not going to kill him," she stated plainly.

"But what if—?"

"Nothing's going to happen!" Zelda exclaimed in exasperation. "You have _other_ things to worry about," she reminded me with a slight smirk.

I blushed at this but nodded in agreement. "Fine, let's get this over with."

We stood and gracefully exited the room, heading towards another room that had been prepared for this occasion.

Link and many of the soldiers had recovered fully with only a few days rest, but there were still many losses and they had been our first priority upon returning. The strange dark-tainted creatures had not made another appearance and they were presumed extinct.

As was Ganondorf.

Zelda had told me that the only thought that haunted her still was one of the Triforce of power. The goddesses made no mention of it when they spoke with us, and no strange reports had filtered in about it turning up with some other Hylian…

Or even Twili for that matter, since knowing what we know now, it was actually more likely to show up within my people.

That aside, all was well. Link even got a reward for saving the world for the second time in his life: Zelda had knighted him a week after our return. It was almost an honorary title since he wasn't required to go through the training, but then again he would probably have more to teach than to learn.

Zelda's thoughts were much the same, but he declined taking an official position in the Hylian Army, in place of…

I felt my face heat up again, and Zelda noticed.

"So easy to predict your thoughts," she said under her breath as the guards continued to escort us down the hallway.

"Shut up," I snapped irritably.

We arrived at the door and I took a deep breath, hoping this would all go over well.

We entered the room and took our seats off to the right side of the platform, a room full of Hylian nobles already assembled, watching us with reverence. Link stood in the center of the platform, gazing out at the crowd, his Triforce glowing softly. Apparently public speaking made him nervous.

He glanced at us when we entered and made eye contact with me, which I quickly broke, looking away in embarrassment.

I had survived a curse, an usurper, near death, a battle with a goddess, but I would not survive this. Zelda sensed my nerves and giggled a bit, disguising it as a dainty cough.

On my to do list: murder the queen of Hyrule.

Later though, because now the guards started to call the room to attention.

Link stood before the crowd of Hylians and Twili ready to give the greatest speech of his life, and I could do nothing more than watch and listen.

"Greetings nobles of Hyrule," he started nervously, but with a winning smile. "I know many of you probably weren't aware of me until recently at best, but I was knighted by our gracious queen and found myself in a peculiar position."

The nobles stared at him, not giving any kind of sign—not of encouragement or disappointment. Boredom maybe at best.

"Now many of you have heard what occurred during the invasion of Twilight and you've heard of some of my feats. Now many people not only look up to me, but look to me for some measure of guidance," he continued. "It's been nerve wracking."

A few of those gathered gave small chuckles.

"Many of you, as well as many of the common people, have been wondering what to make of these Twili, since they once tried to capture our kingdom and once saved it from certain doom." He paused and looked out over the crowd, gauging their reaction. Some murmurs of dissent and some of scorn played through the group.

"I'm here today to give you an officially recognized view on the Twili, the view that Her Highness hopes all Hylians can accept in time," he announced. "I stand before you as a symbol of our relationship." He took a deep breath before continuing.

The Hylian nobles exchanged a few glances, whispering about what would come next.

"I've learned much on my journeys, as can be imagined. I learned of a destiny I could never have imagined, nor could I have fulfilled without the help of both the queen of Hyrule and the queen of the Twilight Realm. I am not only the hero of this realm, but also a hero of the Twilight Realm. Is that to say I am proclaiming my loyalty to the Twilight over Hyrule? Not at all, however," he paused, again taking a deep breath here and I knew what was coming.

The nobles figuratively leaned forward in their seats, pulled in by Link's hook now. They watched him carefully, judgmentally.

I registered, somewhere in the corner of my mind, Zelda glancing anxiously at me and muttering something about looking abnormally pale.

"I am bound to this land and it is my duty to serve Queen Zelda by birth"—relief swept through the Hylians present—"and I am now bound to the Twilight Realm as well, and it is my duty to serve Queen Midna by marriage."

I winced at the silence. It was quiet enough to hear a quill fall. The shock was positively radiating through the dead-silent room.

Then one of the Hyrulian nobles fainted. Everyone in the room jumped, even Link. There was another awkward pause as everyone gawked at the fallen nobility before Link finally snapped out of it and asked if the man was okay, causing the rest of the room to thaw.

"Wait," one noble piped up after the fainted noble was escorted out. "Where do you plan to live… and what does all of this make you?"

Link smiled divinely before answering. "My home will always be Ordon, but of course I will be taking quite a few extended vacations to visit my wife. What does this make me, you ask? Nothing more than I was born to be, my good sir. This is my destiny, which I have at last fulfilled. I will live it out and when I pass on, it will be a silent affair. Then, when the time is right, either years from now or centuries, I will be reborn and called into service once more when Hyrule needs me most. And very likely I will come in the most unexpected form, but you will know you can trust me nonetheless for you will find courage within me."

My jaw dropped open a bit at the response. Not only because he habitually didn't speak much, but because of the utter honesty and perspective of the statement.

And with those final words, Link turned, walked over, and kneeled before Zelda and myself. We rose from our seats, me on shaking legs, and placed a hand on his shoulder, beckoning him to rise. He did so, taking Zelda's hand and placing a gentlemanly kiss on it before turning to embrace me.

The crowd chattered insistently, random questions rising above the overall noise. Guards moved into a defensive formation in front of the stage.

I wrapped my arms around him and peeked at Zelda out of the corner of my eye.

"I'll clean everything up, go ahead," she whispered to me.

Needing no more invitation, I warped Link and myself home, to the Twilight Realm.


	14. Bonus Chapter

Why hello there, Kiba Wolf here!

At (too) long last we've reached the end of **Twilight Storm**, but before we say our goodbyes I would like to humbly offer you this bonus chapter. It doesn't add a lot to the story (but there is some interesting information towards the end if you want more of this kind of story!), but it does give you an inside look on the writing process through out. This chapter will include deleted scenes, the playlist, and several clusters of commentary by me concerning the how and why of writing **Twilight Storm**. So please, do enjoy if you plan on reading it, but if not I still encourage you to take a look at the little surprise at the end.

Write on!

**Playlist:**

Chapter **One**: _Traveling Song_ and _Cry Me A River_: Traveling Song is from Link's perspective and Cry Me A River from Midna's.

Chapter **Two**: _I Don't Want To Miss A Thing_ and _Harder To Breath_: _I Don't Want To Miss A Thing_ was originally for Link when I was still writing in third person (explained a little more with the "cut scene".) Basically more of his missing Midna and everything around him while he's dealing with the hole in his life. Midna's stress level goes up on so many levels in this chapter, so, yes, its getting harder and harder to breath.

Chapter **Three**: Only had one song, oops. _Monsters_: More of an action-y song not to mention monsters are showing up in all characters this chapter. Midna's jealousy clouds her mind, a monster in its self. Link's blindness to her feelings and, oh, of course the big attack on Hyrule Castle (don't ask me where Zelda was during this, just don't).

Chapter **Four**: Originally _Hate That I Love You_ and _Soulmate_. Obviously I didn't lie when I told everyone this chapter took on a life of its own. What you, dear readers, read was not as I had originally intended. In the end I suppose it just got bumped back really, Chapter Five has a bit of fluff to make up for the insanity in this chapter.

Chapter **Five**: _Why Can't I_ and _Not Meant To Be_. Both from Midna's perspective as she goes through her debates on whether she and Link were meant for each, whether or not they could be together, etc. I feel like these are songs that wish for one thing, and are frustrated by the current state of matters, and really that's how Midna's feeling through this chapter.

Chapter **Six**: _Animal_ and _One Headlight_. Animal is the overall theme of this chapter. _One Headlight_ is… because there is still a lot of relationship building that's very subtle, but also a lot of relationship tearing and whatnot. Especially towards the end. One of those sweet sorrow kind of endings.

Chapter **Seven**: _Learn to Fly_ and _How To Save A Life_. This chapter is about our heroes rising, brushing the dirt off their clothes, and stepping forward again. Of course the harder song to find comes from the mid-part of the chapter, when Link loses sanity and it seems like they're falling down again. Which is where song number two comes in: _I Caught Myself_. I had considered _Youth_ for this chapter, but saved it for a more appropriate chapter later on. Also bonus track! _Hey Baby_ by No Doubt! Why? Well there will be some fluff in there that I rather like! The real number two song: This song is all about losing someone you love and this is really one-half of the whole core of the story. Link lost Midna and just when they thought they were together again she lost Link to a tainted darkness. It's a perfect song combo.

Chapter **Eight**: _Show Me What I'm Looking For_ and _This Town_. The first song is really the chapter's theme song, in all honesty. This chapter is about being lost and, of course, the attack on Castle Town brings in _This Town_ perfectly mid-chapter.

Chapter **Nine**: _So Cold_ by Breaking Benjamin for Link and Midna. _The Scientist_ by Coldplay for Midna, as she is trying to literally fix Link through this chapter. Sub-songs: chosen later, during the actual writing of the final chapter. _Back 2 Good_ and _Ballroom Blitz_. _The Scientist_ and _Back 2 Good_ are almost inter-changeable, although _Back 2 Good_ sounds better to me today (March 20, 2011) because it's more upbeat and the fixing is more emotional than just calm/reflective. _Ballroom Blitz_ is much like _This Town_, kind of a setting song.

Chapter **Ten**: _Head over Feet_ by Alanis Morissette and _Forget You_ by Cee-Lo Green. I think it's kind of an ironic, but sad thing, everything Midna goes through. This is basically the song for them falling for each other all over again, even if it is with a tinge of sadness. _Forget You_ is my little spark of humor, I suppose, since it does come up a little. Chapter Ten is the last serious shot for humor before the meeting of the Twili and Hylians and the final battle with Din.

Chapter **Eleven**: _What Do We Know_ by Thousand Foot Crutch and _Help is on the Way_ by Rise Against. The regular/fast-paced versions of this song are both used for the faster and slower feelings going on in this chapter. When it's massive, it's loud, it's ready to rock that's the fast paced. When it dives deeper, gets emotional, when it hurts that's when the slower version kicks in. _What Do We Know_ had been planned out a while ago, and I like it more from Link's perspective (a bit of irony for one thing) as he tries to quickly come to grips with what he knows is truth and what he knows, generally speaking, as he prepares to battle Din.

Chapter **Twelve**: _Headstrong_ by Trapt for the heavier, you know, generic action stuff. Taking on a god. Taking on a world. Take on anyone. _Two Princes_ by Spin Doctors from Link's perspective, in the epilogue part of the chapter, was the original song, but last minute it was changed to _Breathless _by The Corrs. It almost fits both perspectives, but it has that more feminine twinge for Midna. Although I will say that the second (lesser) reason I changed it was because I plan on using this song for an upcoming story instead (hints!)

*Edit 24/4 – **A note on the playlist for Twilight Storm**: The songs are a mark for me to meet. When I pick good songs for the chapter then meet my goal for writing the chapter they go together perfectly.

**Deleted Scenes:**

_Chapter One: _

There were actually no cuts for this chapter (or the prologue for that matter). Probably because I wasn't sure of how to edit and what to cut initially, because it all worked fine when there was nothing else it had to be aligned with. Obviously this changed through out, and some chapters have significant chunks of text removed and edited. Some of the cuts here actually made it back into the story, just in a very different way or different time.

_Chapter Two:_

Link made it to Arbiter's Grounds shortly before the folks in his home village back in Ordon would be munching merrily on a mid-morning snack. He was right to have left them for that. They tried to understand his pain, they really tried because the village wasn't just a group of people it was a family. However, every time someone approached him and attempted to broach the subject he deftly changed it or simply walked away ignoring him or her. This had been going on for about a month after he returned before Mayor Bo decided it was time to intervene.

"You're being incredibly rude to the other villagers, son," he had said. "Now I want to understand as much as the rest of them what you're going through. None of us can hope to empathize because we have never been through what you have. In fact, it's thanks to you that we will never have to face such dark times in our lives again.

The mayor seemed to have a hard time to convey his message, probably because being the man that he was he wasn't used to trying to sympathize. Most of the time everyone agreed with him and moved on without any hurt feelings. How was he to know that the young but promising boy from his village would be selected by the goddesses to lead Hyrule to salvation from the twilight?

The mayor sighed in frustration when Link simply stared off into space. He, the Head of Ordon Village, was trying to reach out to this insufferable lad and he had the gull to simply ignore him!

"Now look here, boy," the mayor had said in a very fatherly tone of voice.

"Please, Mayor, I understand that I haven't been in the best of moods. I just wish for some peace right now. I don't feel like being pestered by the entire village!" Link had snapped back at him.

Link was still chuckling from his last story when Zelda asked him, "So she really got the best of you during your journeys together?"

"Well," he had replied pondering for a few minutes. "Most of the time she was on top, and I don't just refer to the fact that she rode me like a horse." He flashed Zelda a grin and she giggled.

"There was this one time," he said, a bit more serious though he still retained the playful twinkle in his deep blue eyes. "When we were up on Snowpeak Mountain looking at our first mirror shard lead, I got the better of her there."

"Do tell," the Hylian princess had implored him.

"Well we had just stepped out of the Zora tunnel leading to the mountains and I could tell she was cold even though she was in my shadow," Link rolled his eyes before continuing. "My shadow was trembling with the cold of the mountain! So I requested she transform me and when she complied I was quick to act. I pushed her off the cliff."

Zelda gasped. "Link! How could you do that?" She demanded.

The young swordsman just laughed though. "Well once I bucked her off a cliff she reached up and pulled me down so I would hardly call this a one-sided story."

***Edit** 9/4 – The scene with Link and Zelda was cut, aside from changing the main perspective of the story to first-person, because reconsidering it I figured that this wasn't in character for them. Link would not be able to laugh and joke like this even after a full year, at least not standing in the same place where it all ended for him. Then of course there's Zelda's character, which was the most off thing about this short passage. The Zelda in Twilight Princess, more so than in, say, Ocarina of Time, isn't precisely fun loving. I take her as a very grim and serious character in Twilight Princess. Obviously her actions here would not imply that. This is from the beginning of chapter two.

_Chapter Three: _

Not a cut, but something I picked up around Chapter Three:

The Triforce of Power embodies the essence of Din, the goddess of Power, and amplifies the physical and magical power of its bearer immeasurably. It is usually associated with Ganon, who often uses it to help conquer Hyrule or come back from death. The piece is usually depicted to be the top piece out of the three.

The Triforce of Wisdom embodies the essence of Nayru, the goddess of Wisdom, and amplifies the wisdom and mystical powers of its bearer. It is usually associated with Princess Zelda.

The Triforce of Courage embodies the essence of Farore, the goddess of Courage, and seems to amplify the courage and adventuring skills of its bearer. It is usually associated with Link.

No cuts beyond that.

_Chapter Four:_

"No!" I heard a voice cry out, but it sounded far away. All I could see was the roof toppling towards me. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the end to come. I felt the impact, but not from the direction I had been expecting. The object hit my back – hard and I crashed into the cold stone floor with the pleasantly warm object pinning me down. I tried to move but was held firmly in place. Then I heard a voice.

"Stop moving, calm down, you're okay," a male voice whispered. The voice was very close, but what it was saying didn't make sense. Calm down? I was trapped under the roof of Hyrule Castle, which was currently under siege. I couldn't calm down, no, but I did stop moving as the voice had asked. Suddenly the weight that had been holding me down was removed.

To my surprise I felt space above me. Slowly I sat up and realized that the roof indeed hadn't crushed me. The space was small with the heavy stone of the castle creating walls all around me. I was trapped but alive, and I wasn't alone. As I looked around the small space (really there wasn't all that much to look at; its so dark) I came face to face with the man who had been whispering to me earlier. Slowly as my brain started to work out of the shock I realized he must've been the one who had tackled me and kept me pinned against the ground. I glanced up. There was maybe an inch of space between my head and the stone, had I been standing the massive stone would've killed me without a doubt.

"Midna?" The man asked and I noticed he was breathing hard. I looked at him, prepared to thank him until I saw who _he_ was. Link. I huffed and looked away from him again. He may have saved my life but that didn't mean I was ready to look at him yet.

"Thanks," I spat at him angrily. There he got his thanks that was all I owed him, now I could sit here and die slowly in peace. Unless Zelda fended off the attack that I could still hear waging outside I was going to die here. Here in this cramped space with a man I wasn't sure I loved or hated – still. I resolved right then that – rescue or no rescue – I was going to figure this out. I didn't want to die not knowing if I had ever found love. That would suck worse than dieing a virgin – oh for the love of Nayru.

"Midna, please just listen," Link pleaded. He was never one to give up easily.

"Hey wait a minute!" I shouted. He looked at me with a confused expression, head tilted to the side. Hylian head, not wolf head even though I was sure I had left him as a wolf back in Ordon. How'd he get here in time _not_ as a wolf?

"Who are you?" I asked slowly. He looked even more confused than before. "I left the real Link as a wolf back in Ordon. You couldn't be him." I eyed him suspiciously, daring him to challenge my discovery. He looked surprised and his face lit up like something just dawned on him.

"Hey," he said slowly, "you're right." He blinked a couple of times confused, then looked back at me. Like I knew how he got here as a Hylian? He spoke up again after a moment of mutual confusion. "Did you change me back when I hit you? I swear I was a wolf when I jumped for you."

"You're saying you got this deep into Hyrule Castle as a wolf?" I asked sarcastically. He nodded and I rolled my eyes.

"The castle _is_ under siege. The guards were more worried about what was actually attacking them rather than a wild dog," he reasoned. I nodded once slowly trying to find a flaw in his logic.

"Wait, you didn't stop to help them?" I asked surprised. He looked down guiltily. After a few moments he spoke again, but he never raised his head while he was talking.

"I had a – feeling that you were in trouble. I couldn't stop to help them when you needed me," he muttered softly. I cocked my head to the side, confused not only by his tone but also his words. How could he know if I was in trouble? Not that I wasn't but how would he…

"The Triforce," he said suddenly, looking me in the eye.

"What about it?" I asked curiously.

"I guess you don't think about it much when you obtain it," he replied thoughtfully. "I've heard stories about how the Triforce bonds those who hold pieces of it, but I thought that only applied to people who came by the Triforce naturally. Its really the only way I can explain it though, and, after talking to Zelda about it, that's really the only way I can explain just knowing."

We have a bond through the Triforce? Sounded a bit stalker-ish to me not to mention laughable. A Hylian and a Twili bonded through the sacred Triforce, yeah, right. Then again it would make sense in some respects, like how I'm always so preoccupied worrying over him. Sure, that would make sense and its easiest to explain to whoever might inquire into it.

"I don't believe you," I said bleakly. I grinned at him, "You'll have to prove it." He grinned back at me and became thoughtful suddenly. While I watched him thinking I remembered something.

"Oh and Link," I said shyly, ducking my head down. "I'm sorry I hit you earlier, I didn't mean it – not really." I peeked up at him and was relieved to find him smiling.

"Think nothing of it," he said with a wave of his hand. "It didn't really hurt anyways, just caught me off guard." I rolled my eyes and punched him in the shoulder.

"Come here," he said suddenly. I just stared at him like he was crazy. We were only a foot apart in this cramped death hole, how could I get any closer? When he saw I wasn't moving he leaned forward and grabbed my left hand.

"Link what the h—," I started to yell at him but suddenly he pressed his lips to mine and the strangest thing happened. All of the fight left me. I had never known a life where I didn't feel like I had to fight, every moment was a constant struggle to stay above water. Raised from birth to be the next queen there was never a restful moment, then of course as soon as I receive the crown there's a hostile take over by a sadistic maniac. I always stood my own though, but right now I felt myself drowning for the first time in my life. I felt my bones melt, and the weirdest part of this ultimately foreign moment? I loved every moment of it.

I leaned into him and sank deeper into the kiss. I felt his arm wrap around my waist as he pulled me closer. I heard a small moan escape from my lips and Link forced himself even closer at the opening. Never had I lost control, not once, not really, but right now I couldn't even think let alone control. I just enjoyed.

Suddenly Link jerked back, breaking the kiss and held up my hand, grinning triumphantly. I looked at my hand in mild surprise. The Triforce on it was glowing quite brightly, certainly enough to light up the small space. I glanced down at Link's other hand and noticed it too was glowing.

"See?" He panted. I laughed.

"You had to do that just to prove your point?" I giggled giddily. I leaned back against the makeshift wall and tried to catch my breath. Link crawled closer to me and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

"You bet," he said, grinning like a mad man. I rolled my eyes once before resting my head against his shoulder. Moments later the world faded to black.

***Edit** 9/4 – This piece was removed from the original story line due to the fact that Midna was out of character and I do believe Link caught a bit of that disease though not as bad. The main reason, however, was because I wanted to time their first kiss perfectly. Call me a romantic if you please but I felt that this couple needs one perfect moment to hold on to for the rest of their lives. I figure that Link suddenly kissing her in a near death experience could be romantic, but it would seem like desperation not a true choice for the sake of love. This is from the beginning of chapter four.

_Chapter Five:_

***Edit** 26/4 – Chapter 5 cut scene. Originally Midna's thoughts after coming out of a flash back from the Lanayru province. Cut because this scene because it turned into a story sharing between Zelda and Midna, whereas before it was just Midna thinking back. This is actually re-worked into the scene, strongly diluted.

[I] realized that thoughts of betrayal had never crossed his mind. Loyalty is simply a part of who he is.

A part that I loved so much despite the trouble it gave me in the end. Loyal to the last, my eyes locked with his as the mirror shattered: the pain, the hurt, everything echoing between us as our worlds fell apart just as everyone else's pulled together. I quickly shied away from the memories that were speeding down a path I had no desire to visit again.

I turned over restlessly. How did Link and Zelda stand sleeping on the cold, hard ground? This whole 'camping out' thing was the polar opposite of resting in Link's shadow. His shadow was always so warm and soft. Even though the bed in my royal chambers was of the highest quality, I still had a difficult time falling asleep the first few weeks.

Then again this wasn't nearly as bad as Snowpeak. Discovering the shattered mirror left me feeling hollow – it seemed impossible to return to the Twilight Realm now. Link, never missing a beat, quickly went in search of the fragments. I told him it was hopeless. The sages' cryptic message was nothing more than a fleeting hope. I mean honestly, a shard in the heavens?

We returned to Castle Town for Link to begin his search for the shards.

_Later in chp5. _

Link saving my life after Zant attacked us in Lanayru's spring shrine had been a turning point in our relationship. I felt more willing to talk to him. Suddenly traveling with him wasn't a chore anymore, but rather repaying someone who had saved my life. I couldn't have asked for a better friend than Link through the desert and especially after our tour through the Arbiter's Grounds.

I glanced over at Zelda who was now sitting up and looking at me curiously.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you – I was having a hard time sleeping," I apologized quickly.

"Oh, no, actually it was the Triforce," she clarified. I tilted to my side and was about to ask her what she was talking about when I noticed my hand. It was glowing rather obnoxiously though it looked like it was dimming some.

"Why's it doing that?" I asked, peeved. Zelda laughed softly before responding.

"Various reasons. Link's glowed when he first entered the Twilight, I believe. Mine glows when I activate its healing powers. Yours though, is hard to say why. The Triforce of Power has never been on the side of good, according to the historical texts. Its magical properties are vastly unknown to us," she elaborated.

"Hmm, so do the pieces share similar properties? Something they all do?" I inquired, thankful for the distraction from my previously restless thoughts.

"Not exactly, the most common thing about them is the fact that they're all magic based and from the goddesses… at least that I know of." The queen of Hyrule furrowed her brow, perplexed. "I've read stories," she said slowly, almost quietly enough that for a minute I thought she was just talking to herself. "A long, long time ago – well before the forces of evil were a common place thing – there existed a Hyrule, far happier than the one we live in now. Everyone was pure-bred Hylian and retained pride for their country, not like today's cowards." She paused and scowled.

"So what does this have to do with the Triforce?" I asked, breaking her reverie.

"Oh, right," she paused to find her place in the storybook inside her head. "So things in Hyrule were pretty good, prosperous and growing, but then Ganondorf made his first appearance—."

I cut her off quickly saying, "Wait first? You mean he's been coming back all this time and Link just now stopped him?"

"Precisely," she answered. "I had hoped that our Link had finished him off for good, but it seems my hope was wasted. Who am I to think I best my ancestor?"

"Uh, Queen, you're losing me here. Keep in mind I didn't grow up in Hyrule Castle," I reminded her promptly before she started rambling too much.

"Oh, right, forgive me, Midna," she corrected herself. I shrugged. "Right well, to get back to the original point, the Link and Zelda of that time—," she paused at my bewildered look, " – You see Link and I are reincarnated for the sake of the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom, respectively. Ganon is the same throughout history as far as we can tell though. Anyways, our historical counter-parts knew much more about the Triforce than they ever bothered to record for future generations. I suppose they had the same belief we had, that they had defeated Ganon for good.

_Later, later in chp5. _

Oh, well. While I had some time to myself I could mess around with the Triforce of Power a little. As Zelda had said, no one really knew what kind of power it held; I might discover something useful for our mission.

The first thing I did was lean over towards Link and place my hand on top of his own. The Triforce in both of our hands glowed brightly before I even made contact with his skin, and then when I actually touched him the light was near blinding. Surprisingly it didn't wake him, actually I think – did he just smile? I sat back and frowned at the upside-down mark on my hand.

I closed my eyes and focused, though I wasn't sure on what. Zelda claimed that an ancestor of hers could communicate with the ancient Hero of Time through the Triforce with their minds. I've heard of some strange magic before so why not? How did I make this connection though? I tried to focus on Link himself, but didn't pick anything up. Perhaps if I just _thought _about him, what with the mental part involved in this.

I felt a spark run up my spine and a new presence enter my mind; it felt just as it had when Zelda healed me and forced her conscience on me. Well, this isn't quite the same. This is more… it feels right. Not like an intrusion at all. I smiled, just a little, and basked in the warmth of the new being within my own.

Flashes of light and color and sheer brilliance played in my mind like children on the first day of summer. This one is so happy, so carefree. A shudder went through me as the core of my own mind brushed against another's. The feeling was brief but strong – very intimate and that caused my mind to flinch back reflexively. The new presence jumped back as well, but slowly it crept forward once more. I recognized this kind of action somewhere in the back of my mind, but I ignored it. Courageously the other mind's heart approached me, obviously curious and trusting. Strangely it was not weary or fearful almost as if it knew it could trust me. I smiled even more in encouragement, despite the fact that this presence could not see my face.

I gasped out loud, nearly breaking my focus, as the center of my mind and the other's collided once more. Then, simple and pure bliss filled my mind. I couldn't see, think or feel anything that wasn't him and me, me and him. Our minds twisted together in some kind of celestial dance, never missing a beat. Secrets, without shame, burst forth from my mind and he returned every single one of them with one of his own.

I love you! I love you! I screamed in my mind, but it was only a faint echo compared to his roars of agreement. The heat of the emotions and pure intimacy of joined minds caused a single drop of sweat to streak down my back. I vaguely noticed when I started panting. Suddenly and without warning our minds were torn apart.

I gasped out loud and sat shaking on my bed mat, trying desperately to regain my surroundings. I was sweating much more than I had noticed and my breathing was ragged. My heart pumped out a disjointed rhythm as it tried to keep up with the rest of my body. I had never moved so fast in my life. Finally I noticed who had broken my connection.

"What?" I asked in a daze.

"Midna, you were trembling and – I thought you were in pain," Zelda explained, a bit on the confused side herself. "What was that?"

"I don't know – Link?" I turned towards the hero, as he shot up out of his bed, wide-eyed and panting. He turned slowly to face me.

I had looked Link in the eyes before, of course. We traveled together so much I got used to looking at his handsome face. To say towards the end of our journey that didn't start to bug me a little is untrue, however now was something totally different. I gazed into his eyes and I felt like I could never look away again. Was I so blind this entire time? How is it I never really _noticed_ him until now? His deep blue eyes like the night sky and his fair locks, in a disorganized mess as always. How did I not notice every little detail of him until now?

Zelda cleared her throat, and by the sound of it she must've already tried to get our attention several times. I hadn't even noticed.

"Are you both all right," she asked in a concerned yet curious voice.

"Just fine," Link replied dreamily, not yet blinking since he woke up. I felt a sudden blush heat up my neck. What did I just do? I leaped up and took off running for the deeper part of Faron Woods. I never ran away. It just wasn't like me to do something like that, so why was I doing it now?

I just needed to think without Link or Zelda distracting me. Especially Link.

I ran until I came upon a stream and, not wanting to get wet by crossing it, collapsed on its bank. What have I done? There wasn't a doubt in my mind that I had reformed a connection that had been purposefully shattered for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years. Even now the cursed goddesses-given Triforce glowed softly, still in a state of bliss from the mind contact. I shuddered thinking about the brief but ever-lasting moment. Never in my life had I felt so _close_ to someone before. Evidently my position as ruler of the Twilight Realm didn't allow for many so-called 'friends'.

The sun moved in its never-ending celestial walk across the sky as I contemplated my relationship with Link – again. Could you be friends with someone after your minds had been fused together like that? I doubted it, but what if Link didn't want to be my friend after all of this, let alone anything more?

Why can't I just figure this out? It is not _that_ hard! Just go back to him and _say _it! Don't make the same mistake you made the first time – don't leave everything up in the air. My thoughts drifted back to Link, to every moment of our journey during the Twilight invasion, every time we talked while we rested for the next part of our quest, everything about him: the way he looks, the way he talks, the way he thinks

And lastly in chp5

A rumbling in the distance distracted my thoughts, but as the noise increased I couldn't help and think, maybe it was coming closer. Bursting forth from the trees on a black stallion was Ganon himself. I jumped up, prepared to defend myself. I summoned some Twili magic and stared the Dark Lord down, daring him to approach any closer. He simply grinned malevolently at me, without making any moves to come closer.

Suddenly I felt the weight of a club brought down on the back of my head, and I fell towards the ground with a yelp of pain. I commanded my body to get up, to move, but with no luck. Ganon approached me now that his minion had rendered me useless.

_Chapter Six:_

***Edit** 6/5 – Chapter 6. This was a small cut; basically this part was pushed back to Chapter 5 and then Chapter 6 focused on the time Midna was locked away. Chapter Five was already my longest, so I opted into wrapping it up on a cleaner cliffhanger.

A rumbling in the distance distracted my thoughts, but as the noise increased I couldn't help and think, maybe it was coming closer. Bursting forth from the trees on a black stallion was Ganon himself. I jumped up, prepared to defend myself. I summoned some Twili magic and stared the Dark Lord down, daring him to approach any closer. He simply grinned malevolently at me, without making any moves to come closer.

Suddenly I felt the weight of a club brought down on the back of my head, and I fell towards the ground with a yelp of pain. I commanded my body to get up, to move, but with no luck. Ganon approached me now that his minion had rendered me useless.

_Chapter Seven:_

***Edit** 11/5 – Chapter 7. Why did I turn the seducer sort of good in the end? I liked the character, what can I say? I got attached. So I had to send her down, yes, but at least down fighting the good fight.

_Chapter Eight:_

Why no cuts here? Because this was basically a transition chapter (I believe it's written out below what I mean by that / how the story was divided up in my mind), and being as such, it was impressively short.

_Chapter Nine:_

***Edit** 3/20 – Several parts of this chapter were cut out, all of the cuts were from fairly different spots, although with the exception of the first one, I believe they all have to do with the same inconsistency (of Link's wolf form).

I'm not blind.

I could almost hear the collective sigh that echoed through my head. Screw you voices. I had more important things to worry about right now; I didn't have time for this.

_Twilight Princess, I can help you, but you must do as I say._

Who are you exactly?

_That's not important right now; what is important—_

We're not playing the guess who game or the mysterious help from a stranger game, I thought angrily back. I have enough on my mind without there literally being something, or more accurately, someone in it as well. I had to figure out how to deal with Link. Not deal with him, that sounds too harsh, but deal with my reaction to things he does. I mean, he's still him, right?

3/23

Part of me wished he would just look at me, while another part was glad he was ignoring me. Honestly, what was I supposed to say to him? Hey Link, sorry I've treated you like dirt the past week since you've returned, but I'm just hung up over you having sex with Ganon's prostitute?

I don't think so.

"Midna did something happen before I got here?" Link asked rather suddenly. I looked down at him, perplexed. "Uhm, you just seemed really distracted just now," he clarified.

"Oh," was all I managed to say in reply at first. "Yeah, I guess so. Some weird Hylian approached me earlier—."

"He didn't hurt you, did he?" Link asked quickly, interrupting me. My eyes widened in surprise at his suddenly fierce tone and the fire in his eyes.

"No! Of course not!" I reassured him.

Placated, he looked down at the floor and murmured a soft, "That's good."

"Speaking of acting weird…" I trailed, arching an eyebrow. Link looked up in surprise and cocked his head to the side like he wasn't sure whom I was talking about. I sighed and shook my head, but not in a dismissive way. "Link, look, I think we need to talk."

He looked up at me mournfully and for a brief moment I almost regretted saying anything, but then he nodded. He took a step back, breaking the contact between us before offering his arm. I took it as expected and he led us out the great wooden doors to the castle courtyard.

How long ago had I been sitting in an eerily similar room with so many problems I couldn't possibly imagine anymore? How did it come to the point where I yearned for those to be my only problems?

3/24

I made a spur-of-the-moment decision and commanded Link to hold tight. Before he could say anything I grabbed his arm and changed him. Avoiding shock may have been the original plan, but that plan had also included him avoiding the Twilight Realm.

"Follow Zant," I commanded, pointing at the flustered sorcerer. Wolf-Link yelped in confusion. I patted his head, the only gesture of reassurance I could think to give.

"I'll explain later, I promise, but we have to go now and you need to come with us." It took him but a moment to process his options before he took off after Zant. I followed hot on their heels wondering what else could possibly go wrong at this point.

…or I had taken the time to open a new twilight portal near the curtain. Link was fast as a wolf, of course, …

"Look, I would turn you back to normal, but you would just transform again once we went through," I informed him. "And yes, you have to go through." Link was still exceptionally brave, despite what his left hand currently lacked, but he was also noticeably more hesitant and cautious. I gave a sigh. "Okay, I won't make you trust me or anything, but you either need to go in with us or you stay out here and hideout for however long we're in there. That could be days and I have to remind you that you have no way of reversing your transformation either way."

The massive wolf gave an almost resigned sounding sigh as he plodded forward, cautiously approaching the curtain. Not wasting another moment, I went ahead, figuring he would come if he wanted on his own time. Right now I had something urgent to deal with. I caught up with Zant at the palace after crossing the border.

Did they have special perks now as well?

He broke into a wolfish grin that followed him into his Hylian form.

***Edit **– Another semi-cut came throughout the end of this chapter (during the ballroom scene), but most of what was cut was put back in some way. The biggest change for the end was originally Link and Midna were in a bedroom when they hold their conversation over Midna leaving, the Arbiter's Grounds memories, and of course, the infamous kiss.

_Chapter Ten:_

***Edit** – Chapter Ten almost got a lot cut out, because I was so worried about balancing Link and Midna's characters with progressing their relationship. I realized a few things: first, Link's behavior is explainable, so if I'm asked I can defend; second, this is a LinkxMidna story so they need this, I mean heck, they deserve this; third, anyone out there reading the story this deep in probably enjoyed it as much as I did.

Taking the opening, I slipped away from the tree and stood a safe distance from Link.

He didn't bother adding anything about Link, but I had a feeling Zelda knew he was with me and would follow me down to the ballroom.

I slowly closed the door with a soft click and turned around to fact Link. He was sitting on the bed, his face in his hands.

He chuckled a bit. "Come on, let's go back down before Zelda gets the wrong idea." I said, opening the door once more. _(Returned to ballroom—one last big even before the end of the ball then they travel, after a few days of preparation, to the Snow Peaks ((survival training)), then to Gerudo Desert ((hero training))._

He stopped and I followed suit, opening my mouth to ask him why he had stopped when he muttered, "Well, this must be it."

He then knocked on the door and received a prompt "Enter" from a muffled voice within.

Faron Province had the opposite problem

And you may even catch glimpses of his feelings that he never showed

***Edit **–These are little snippets that were moved/changed throughout the chapter.

_Chapter Eleven:_

With the undead Hylian left far behind, the events of Snow Peak had us both a bit flustered around each other, but Link's hand had made a full recovery and his strength was back up to normal. Not quite what it was at the end of our original journey, but good enough to take him to the cavern the latest voice in my head had mentioned.

***Edit **– This was cut because it didn't blend with the story like I wanted, and to be honest, there just wasn't room for them to be flustered, too much was going on.

***Edit** – I almost resisted making a comment on possessed yetis. Almost. Didn't quite get cut though.

With that in mind I decided on our next destination; it was time to muster our might and face Ganondorf head on. All of our strength meant recruiting not only some friends, but also some well-worn and time-tested weapons. Well, one weapon.

***Edit **– This line was cut out because I couldn't smooth it into the next section (because I was trying to transition between something I wrote a while ago with something I had just written). Reading it over again I decided that the transition was pretty much unnoticeable and made enough sense to let it slide. Also, an entire idea for a scene was processed and eventually cut before I even typed it up. That is, of course, the desert training grounds. AKA Snowpeak part two.

It was almost easier when she was traveling with us in my head.

Our arrival at the castle went largely unnoticed. With the, to say the least, strange ball behind them the Hylians had gone full-force into preparing for battle. Their faces were grim and determined as the men gathered to practice and the women and children organized and moved supplies and rations. Zelda kept a tightly run ship, no one was lazing around and everyone was working hard.

***Edit **– I really liked the few lines I typed up on the Hylian mindset, but it didn't fit in at the part I had it originally and I didn't feel it was appropriate for later in the chapter when they finally return to the castle.

…and felt the undead listening carefully.

"Keep walking," I growled at him…

***Edit **– This little snippet was clipped off the part where Link and Midna arrive at the Twilight palace with the Twilian. Originally I had him conscious when they arrived, but obviously something (a rock) happened and he was knocked out the whole time.

The Twili, as predicted, arrived that evening, and Zant happened to be the one to jar me awake.

***Note **– I found out an interesting little tidbit while writing Chapter Eleven: did you know there was an official trading card deck created from the game? No kidding! Anyways, the cards have little facts on them, including character bios. I found out Link was in fact 17 during Twilight Princess. What does this mean you ask? In Chapter Four I mentioned Link's age as 18 (as this story takes place a year after the events of TP) without knowing this. Ah, lucked out on that one!

"Stay back," it screeched, pressing itself up against the wall on the far side of the room.

I ignored it for the moment and rushed to Link's side. "Link are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

"I'll survive," he grimaced. The Master Sword glowed anxiously as the deep wound bled profusely. "What is that?" he asked

Probably the last memory he would recover would be one of a dark, bloody day filled with nightmares, including that of a possessed Hylian-like creature.

"We've run into it before," I replied grimly and his brow furrowed in puzzlement.

"I don't remember," he confessed after a moment. I nodded once before turning my attention back to the strange creature on the other side of the room.

"What are you and why are you attacking us?" I demanded.

***Edit** –This got diced because the first fight scene turned out differently, which split it into two fight scenes instead of one like I originally planned.

_Chapter Twelve:_

Normally I would have brushed off the question and ignored him, but something—an instinct, I suppose—told me that what I knew now would not be what existed after we confronted what awaited us.

Link waited patiently for me to continue.

"Zelda understands this very well, and perhaps, that's the only reason we were able to reconcile."

"I'm glad you both became friends once again, otherwise we'd have twice as many problems I think," Link remarked sarcastically.

"That ancestor of yours has had a really bad effect on your attitude," I snapped back irritably. "You want to hear the story or not?"

He held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, continue."

***Edit** – The last few lines are here because I had to dice them up and remix them a bit to fit the newer stuff I wrote in on top of it.

I never really had the chance and I think… I think that may have to do with, well, the—."

***Edit**– Another case of changing the wording to get a better emotion across.

[H]e was right, in a sense.

"But you're still a bit stubborn, still have a lot of that pride, and you're still a bit greedy," he answered again.

"…[T]his was the first place in my mind."

Zant just surprised me, that's all.

***Edit** – Almost more of a little factoid: I had the battle scene pre-written (at least part of it), but when I went to write it I couldn't find it. What you read was done from scratch shortly before the chapter's publication.

The small boy was almost indistinguishable except for a shock of red hair and gold eyes. A small Gerudo boy clambered away looking frightened and confused. I started to go after him, but Zelda stopped me with a hand. "Let him go." (Ganon's reincarnation with pure, untainted Gerudo blood; he receives Din's Triforce of Power; Din—satisfied—feels no need to come down to earth and speak with the heroes.) "Did everyone just see that?" I asked with a ghost of a smile tugging at my lips. "Are you referring to Nayru and Farore just appearing before us? Then yes."

After Gerudo boy leaves, Triforce of Power leaves Midna's hand, Link speaks up about Colin. "You know Colin caught me when I was leaving for Arbiter's Grounds?" I stared at him curiously. "I was about to tell him my story of just leaving for a few days, but he saw right through me. Before I got a word out he shook his head and said, "It's okay, I'll tell them when I need to, just be safe." That was it. He smiled at me and headed on back. That boy's got courage." With this a green light shot from Link's hand (headed to Ordon to Colin; Link's birthmark vanishes as does Midna's, Zelda's remains. Link wonders about returning to Ordon to help Colin, but Zelda stops him (her mark remains) then the goddesses come except Din and talk. Link and Midna given the chance to live together). "What have you done?" I heard Link gasp. I told him to wait as I stepped through the curtain of twilight I was shocked to find my world—all of it—really there, joined to this world and separated by only a curtain of Twilight.

***Edit** – The above is actually one of the first snippets I wrote for this story, when the original idea first came to me. It didn't smooth into the actual ending quite as well though, hah.

I gently brushed a stray strand of hair off Link's face.

***Edit** – This line just didn't quite fit for some reason. Probably because it was Midna doing the gesture.

Zelda later talked to me in private about the strange Twilians. Apparently some soldiers recognized a few of them, and it was discovered with dawning horror that the Twilians were in fact Hylians who had perished during the Twilight Invasion. Apparently the particles of Twilight in the area had fused with their lifeless bodies and taken on a life of their own. Ganondorf either knew about this or found out through Din and took control of them with her power. They did in fact live off the blood of their living relatives, as it was the only way for them to sustain themselves. Oddly enough, despite being cursed by the Twilight, they were never cursed to the point where they couldn't be in broad daylight. They appeared to dislike it, but they could stand it as was proof in the desert battle. As night had fallen they had grown more powerful.

***Edit** – I didn't want to remove this, but it felt like a last-minute blurb of explanation just thrown in (which it kind of was).

The goddesses retracted the Twilight as a gift to Link (yeah, just Link. Link elbowed me), and condensed it into a new portal, one that functioned for both Hylians and Twili. It seemed too convenient until I realized that the Hylians would turn to ghosts and Twili would become shadows if they had no spell or blessing on them.

Link smirked over at me. "Oh come on, just say it already!"

I rolled my eyes at him, but nonetheless said, "Link… I… love you!"

***Fun Fact** – Although Chapter Twelve is officially the last chapter of **Twilight Storm**, the original pre-writing of the story included fifteen chapters. The original direction of the story and what it ended up being are totally different from one another; originally Din never turned evil, Midna kept the Triforce of Power, and the final clash was to be between Link and all of his ancestors' enemies (Vaati, Ganondorf, Majora, etc).

_Here's the __**original plot**__ of the story:_

Chapter 1. Players in place, Arbiters

Chapter 2: Return to light

Chapter 3: Discussions, accommodations, attack

Chapter 4: Discoveries—Link/OCs character building, histories, Majora and Vaati

Chapter 5: Midna's capture by Ganon/feelings

Chapter 6: Rescue, Triforce, and bond no more

Chapter 7: Recovery, Twilight curtain, return to Twilight, sword training

Chapter 8: Zant and what he knows

Chapter 9: Ganon again, his new Triforce power and challenge to Zelda

Chapter 10: The ball

Chapter 11: Good dreams cut short and attack

Chapter 12: The battlefield and Link's solo attack on Ganon

Chapter 13: Showdown in the Sacred Realm

Chapter 14: End of the battle

Chapter 15: Return and politics, epilogue

**The confusion, jumping around, and broken plot of **_**Twilight Storm**_

From any persepctive but mind I think **Twilight Storm** could have been confusing. It wasn't a complex storyline like I enjoy, but just straight up confusing. You know, the story jumped from chapter to chapter, nothing was really clear, some plot holes, some things went unexplained. As one person mention the story seemed to change every chapter. I'll be fair, I might've been confused if not for having all of the notes setting around me.

That said, the last four (roughly) chapter probably seem more together than the rest, but not a single chapter was wasted, I promise you that. **Twilight Storm** could really be broken into three parts. The first part was establishing conflicts and relationships and that was up to about Chapter Six, with Chapter Seven being the transition to the "in transit" chapters. These would be Chapter Eight and Chapter Nine, which were my weakest chapters, but they still served a purpose. These were the chapters that, when I got to them and wrote them, I was a bit off and confused as to how the story could still end like I originally planned when the characters and story had gotten so out of hand. They were hard chapters to write, and I think everyone who read them noticed the weakness in the writing. However, Chapter Ten, Chapter Eleven, and Chapter Twelve would then, because of those rough chapters, turn out to be the best. Partially because I picked myself up, sat myself back down, and said, "Look, this story went off course a bit and everyone might hate you now. They may not read or review, but if you let this go then, more than anything else, you let yourself down." Basically, I just couldn't leave this story unfinished. Whether anyone reviewed or not, I had written over a hundred pages of this story and I just couldn't let that waste away.

After that, when I went into the process of writing the final few chapters, I was constantly jotting down notes for different things, I started re-reading the story from the beginning to pick up on plot holes, I played the game again to get a renewed feel for the characters as well as to check the plot again, and the very first thing I did… I sat down and jotted down all of the conflicts and open ends left to be solved and tied before I could type "The End."

The list took up an entire page, ha ha. There were fourteen points to be solved before the end… I split them up and that turned into fourteen points in three chapters. I sat down, started writing, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Things I want to improve after looking over and finishing **Twilight Storm**: Timeline/time flow and general organization. I've never been big on in-depth pre-writing, but I do and needed to do a little more I discovered through writing this. Also I learned, in fan fiction terms, I should type out the entire story and release it on, say, a weekly basis (depending on the story) rather than writing as I go along, because it reduces the chance for long breaks/pauses/hiccups/writer's block or whatever else you want to call it.

**Some things I learned and want to improve with my next story**

Character representation, for sure. I feel like I did okay with the characters in the beginning, but then I kind of dropped off at some point. I'm between reconciling the fact that the characters had to change for my story to take place… or rather changed _because_ my story took place, and wondering if that's not just an excuse for how OOC some of the characters got (let's take a moment to look at Zelda… enough said.)

Another thing I want to practice, as stated above, is overall plotting and planning of the story. I think I reigned in **Twilight Storm** so that it was a "good/okay" story, but I feel like it could have been so much better had I understood better the time it takes to pen a good story (let alone edit it and perfect it)… that as well as how vital extensive pre-writing is.

As I type this I currently have several pages of pre-writing done for my next story, and I know it'll take at least until the end of the month before I have a few serious and totally complete chapters done.

I know that, as a reader, when updates don't happen we get mad as all get out. And then when the author finally comes back they return empty-handed and try to make excuses, which only serves to make us roll our eyes and dismiss them. However, as I got more into writing **Twilight Storm** I understood not only how legit those excuses (yes even writer's block) are, but how painful it is for an author to know people are waiting on a chapter that's not coming.

Long story short, I learned a lot, and I hope to only improve from here on out. You'll be seeing plenty more from me in the future—after all practice makes perfect.

Oh and to use breaks less. Longer sections, fewer breaks, not a problem.

**Prequel and Sequel**

The planned prequel and sequel to Twilight Storm (and they have been planned since early on) were to be written and released simultaneously, after the end of Twilight Storm, of course. Here are the summaries and the question that follows is number ten of the survey questions:

Prequel, a Legend of Zelda story in the Ocarina of Time era, pairing of Link and Zelda. In this story we experience the life and death of one of the greatest heroes ever to walk Hyrule. The ancestor to all, first vanquisher of evil, original savior of light. Ganondorf was defeated many years ago. Now Link lives a peaceful, and generally happy life with Zelda. Well, not with, I mean, not exactly _with-with_ or anything like that. Ah, on second thought, he's not really sure where he stands with Zelda. They aren't married, but they _are_ like best friends. Where is _that_ line drawn? Maybe one of his descendants could assist him on this matter; after all, the Hero of Twilight seems to have his own terms to deal with in his own strange relationship. Involves OoT Link's side of the events of Twilight Storm, including his intrusions into the TP world and the time between.

Sequel, A Legend of Zelda story in the Twilight Princess era, pairing of Link and Midna. Din has been defeated, the Twilight Storm quelled. Link and Midna had their happy ending as the Twilight King and Queen, to live out their lives in peace, prosperity, and love. Well, supposedly. There are a few political… issues though. The Hylians are still struggling to accept the Twili as allies, even with their acknowledged hero as the King of the Twilight Realm. Not to mention there's the issue of… heirs.

And now as a thank you for getting this far…

_Here's a snippet of the planned sequel:_

My hand dropped down to my stomach nervously, stroking the scar left by Ganon's torture. I murmured gently, partially to myself, in an attempt to reassure and calm down. I reached a hand up and wiped a small tear away that had escaped and stained my once dry cheek. I noticed Zelda look at me curiously in my peripheral vision.

"Midna, I know you're worried, but I'm sure Link…" she trailed off not sure what to say.

"I don't think you understand, Zelda," I mumbled. She turned to face me now and placed a hand on my shoulder.

"What's going on Midna? You've been acting so unlike yourself recently," she inquired in a concerned manner. I smiled gently and raised my left hand, pausing to look at the scar there. "I don't understand, is your hand bothering you? I could help maybe I should…" I cut her off, shaking my head. Slowly I placed my hand against my lower stomach and rubbed it once with affection. I heard Zelda gasp, and I have to give her credit for never once losing her grip on me.

"You see Zelda, I don't need him. _We_ need him." I could tell she understood that 'we' wasn't Hyrule this time.

"Oh, Midna, I didn't realize," she started, stumbling over her words. I waved my hand and turned away from her.

"It's no big deal, I'm the only one who knows, aside from you now."

"You didn't tell Link?" she asked in a puzzled tone.

"Well, I'm sure he knew it had to happen sooner or later, but I didn't find out for sure until after he left," I explained, not managing to keep fresh tears from falling.

"So, how long…?" Zelda trailed, curiosity burning her tone. I laughed once before answering her half-question.

"I'm nearing six months* now. I'm excited, of course, I started dreaming about this long before we were betrothed, but," I paused, depression creeping over me again. I had to remind myself that it wasn't healthy for the child I carried to have such haywire emotions. His child… our child. I sighed happily.

"Wait, six months?" Zelda asked in confusion. I could see her counting backwards in her head trying to fix the time into its proper frame.

"Well, we didn't exactly wait. Right after Link gave his big speech about being loyal to both Hyrule and the Twilight Realm, we took the shadow channels home. Back at my palace we had the wedding within the hour," I spoke in a dreamy tone.

"An hour? For the wedding of a queen?"

"It was small, a very simple wedding as those things go, and it was all being arranged by Zant as soon as he arrived home. But" – I paused grinning mischievously – "We were very eager, and Link only requested that we make everything official first. Don't get me wrong, he was just as eager, I could tell," I continued to think about that first night of our marriage, lost in my own world for a time.

"Oh, that was, er, fast indeed," Zelda replied, not being able to think of much else to say. I laughed, more like the way I used to laugh, in good humor for the first time in a long time.

He would come home—he had to. After all…

He has a family waiting for him.

**And with that I say once more:**

_**Thank you!**_

**~Kiba Wolf **


End file.
